Where Can The Buccaneers Find LBs In Free Agency?

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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers need linebackers like they need air. Not K.J. Britt. Now, I am writing this article with the assumption that Sirvocea Dennis will be a starter and Lavonte David will not be back. As blasphemous as this may seem, with his knee injury, he may not feel ready to come back again.

So, the Bucs are looking for one guy capable of starting and at least a couple of solid depth pieces. Remember, in the games Dennis was playing, he looked pretty solid. My hope is that he continues to be that same solid level, even without Lavonte David next to him.

Now, this is somewhat ironic to be considering, but I do think Bobby Wagner would be a good one year rental. Now, again, this comes with the disclaimer that I am assuming that Lavonte David will finally hang it up. Because if he does want to come back, I absolutely do not see why the team would sign him. he’s the same age as David roughly, but like David, had a pretty solid season. He had eight tackles in the Tampa game with one hit on Baker. Both had pretty similar stats. Lavonte had 122 tackles to Wagner’s 132, but had four more sacks (or 3.5 if you use ESPN’s half sacks for some stupid ass reason).

David had more takeaways in general with an interception and three forced fumbles. Wagner is obviously not a long time solution and isn’t as good as Lavonte, but if David retires, Wagner can mentor a young LB that the Bucs will almost surely draft this year. Most ILBs are not particularly good in their first year, so having an older gent to mentor a rookie is better than throwing them out immediately. Plus, Licht can probably get him cheaper than the one year deals Lavonte has been on.

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A guy with slightly more long term upside in free agency is Tyrel Dodson. he was waived by the Seahawks nine weeks in, but was immediately picked up by the Dolphins. I will not deceive you, he wasn’t this hidden gem player. He was usually ok at best on the field. However, he had a better coverage grade than both David and Wagner according to PFF. He also had 2 sacks like Wagner. Do I see him as an immediate impact starter? Kinda. I don’t expect him to start and play like the second coming of Lavonte, but he can be decent for us. I wouldn’t be super excited if the Bucs pick him up and he was paired next to Dennis, but he is a hard hitting LB and plays with a lot of speed. It can’t make up for everything, but it certainly doesn’t hurt.

As you will learn looking at Spotrac, FA LBs are few and fair between. They’re either not great or they’re super old, and still not great. If Lavonte and Bobby are the two best options for most teams at MLB, there are some problems. Just for the information, some of the guys I didn’t include here are Willie Gay, De’Vondre Campbell, Isaiah Simmons, and it goes on. Just a lot of mediocrity. Even if the Buccaneers get a guy in FA, they definitely need at least one in the draft. Unless the defense can make something of Dodson or we find the Fountain of Youth, FA likely won’t provide anything more than a bandaid for easing a rookie onto the field.

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