Earlier this week, longtime Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Lavonte David announced his retirement after 14 seasons in the NFL. With his retirement leaving a glaring hole in the team’s linebacker corps, one player who has been predicted as a potential free agent pickup is another veteran linebacker, Bobby Wagner.
David officially announced his retirement from football on Tuesday after spending his entire 14-year career with the Buccaneers, during which he served as a team captain for 12 seasons. Across those 14 seasons, David was a one-time Pro Bowler, one-time First-team All-Pro, and a Super Bowl champion.
In 215 regular-season games, he recorded 14 interceptions, 33 forced fumbles, 21 fumble recoveries, 73 passes defended, 42.5 sacks, 1,714 combined tackles, 177 tackles for loss, 79 quarterback hits, two pick-sixes, and one safety.
Buccaneers Predicted to Target Bobby Wagner in Free Agency
The gap left by David’s retirement will be hard to fill, but one name that has been floated is Wagner, another All-Pro linebacker. “The Athletic” writer Saad Yousuf says the following:
“The Bucs recently said goodbye to a franchise lifer, as linebacker Lavonte David announced his retirement this week after playing his entire 14-year career in Tampa Bay. The Bucs signed Alex Anzalone in free agency, but they can still do more to bolster the middle of their defense. Tampa Bay drafted David in the second round in 2012 with the No. 58 pick. Eleven picks before that, the Seattle Seahawks selected Wagner, who has turned in a likely Hall of Fame career. He’s not the player he was in his prime, but he’s shown to still have some juice.”
For the last two seasons, Wagner has spent his time roaming the field as a middle linebacker for the Washington Commanders. However, he is most known for being part of the Seattle Seahawks’ “Legion of Boom” defense that terrorized teams during the 2010s.
Last season, Wagner ranked as the fifth-best linebacker in PFSN’s NFL Linebacker Impact Metric with an impact score of 89.7 and a letter grade of B+. Last year, Wagner played in all 17 games despite being 35 years old.
Across those 17 games, he recorded two interceptions, four passes defended, 4.5 sacks, 162 combined tackles, eight tackles for loss, and nine quarterback hits. Despite the Commanders’ defense ranking 30th in PFSN’s NFL Defensive Impact Metric, Wagner was one of the only constants.
Wagner would no doubt be an upgrade to what the Buccaneers are left with in the wake of David’s retirement, but how much sense does the move really make? Wagner will be 36 by the time the season starts, and he likely does not have much gas left in him.
BE AN NFL GM: PFSN’s Ultimate GM Simulator
Would the team be better signing Wagner as a patch for a year or two, or should they look to the draft for a linebacker who could be the next perennial standout like David?
