Longtime Buccaneers LB Lavonte David announced his retirement Tuesday. He arrived back in 2012 as a second-round pick, and immediately stepped into a full-time role. David started every game in which he appeared from 2012 through 2025 and missed just 14 total games across his 14-year run. David's retirement marks the biggest change to the Tampa Bay LB corps, arguably since he entered the league. But the team already started addressing the situation before David made it official.
The Bucs signed LB Alex Anzalone early in free agency. His two-year, $17 million contract -- with $12 million of that guaranteed -- pretty clearly signals that he'll start.
Anzalone did just that for the Lions over the past five years, starting all 73 of his regular-season games with Detroit (plus four more in the playoffs) after an injury-muddled first four seasons with the Saints.
Anzalone averaged 4.2 solo tackles and 2.5 assists per game for the Lions, a full-season pace of roughly:
That total would have landed 31st in the league last year, a half-tackle behind David's season total.
Anzalone also racked up 33 passes defensed since his 2021 arrival in Detroit, fourth-most among all LBs over that span.
Tampa Bay likely tapped him for coverage help in particular after struggling in that area last season.
Anzalone looks like easily the best fantasy play among Bucs LBs right now.
Tampa Bay also signed LB Christian Rozeboom, who led Panthers LBs in playing time and tackles last season. But he also trailed LB Trevin Wallace in playing time when the latter was healthy and has now been allowed to leave by each of his past two teams (Rams after 2024).
Rozeboom got just a one-year deal at age 29, and the financial details have yet to be announced as of this writing. (They ain't withholding those details because the pay is so big.)
SirVocea Dennis joined David in the starting lineup for the first time last year -- to mixed results.
Pro Football Focus credited him with 45 stops ("tackles that constitute a 'failure' for the offense), which tied for 17th among all LBs. But PFF also ranked Dennis just 82nd in overall grade (among 100 LBs with 200+ snaps played), 48th in run-defense grade, and 95th in coverage grade.
Expect some competition between Dennis and Rozeboom. And this remains an LB corps that could add another starting competitor in the draft.
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