With veteran leadership fading, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers eye impact free agents to bolster their inside linebacker corps and shore up defensive needs.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers could use help just about everywhere on defense.
At defensive tackle, Vita Vea is now in his 30s and Calijah Kancey, although just 24, has been injury-prone so far.
At the edge position, the team doesn't have much depth around Yaya Diaby, and difference makers such as Khalil Mack and Trey Hendrickson are available on the free-agent market.
At cornerback, Jamel Dean is an unrestricted free agent, so he might be back, but he might not be.
At safety, Tampa is in decent shape, largely due to the presence of former All-Pro Antoine Winfield Jr.
And then, there's inside linebacker.
Lavonte David has been a franchise cornerstone for a long time, but he's 36 now and very well could have played his last NFL game.
Even if David doesn't retire and the Bucs re-sign him, it's apparent he isn't the player he used to be.
So that means the Bucs need a succession plan.
This plan could involve drafting a linebacker at pick No. 15, and it could involve signing a free agent.
Here's a breakdown of some of the best options, should the Bucs look for an inside linebacker in free agency, which opened Jan. 3.
NAKOBE DEAN
At 25, the Philadelphia Eagle already has a Super Bowl ring.
During the Eagles' championship season, Dean was second on the team in tackles with 128, and was 12th out of 83 linebackers in the league with a 75.3 grade from Pro Football Focus.
Dean's biggest problem has been availability, as injuries limited him to five games in 2023 and 10 for 2025.
Dean also missed most of the Eagles' Super Bowl run with a knee injury he suffered in the Wild-Card game against the Green Bay Packers.
When Dean is healthy, he's quite good, but the best ability is availability.
DEVIN LLOYD
Lloyd has proven himself to be durable, having played in at least 15 games in all four of his pro seasons with Jacksonville. This season, Lloyd was one of the best linebackers in football, according to PFF, which ranked him No. 3 out of 88 players in that position. Lloyd was equally effective as a pass rusher (fifth), run defender (11th), and coverage linebacker (third).
Lloyd was named All-Pro (second team) on Saturday, ahead of the Jaguars' loss to the Buffalo Bills in the wild-card round.
Signing with the Bucs would also mean Lloyd, who will be 28 in September, wouldn't have to leave the state of Florida.
DEVIN BUSH
Bush is a former first-round pick who didn't play like it for much of the first six seasons of his NFL career. This season, Bush had by far his best season since his promising rookie campaign in 2019, ending with 125 total tackles and earning three All-Pro votes, one a first-place vote.
If Bush, who will be 28 in July, wants to play for a winner, the Bucs might be his best option. But his current team, the Cleveland Browns, certainly are not, and that's something that could make Bush signing elsewhere more likely than might Dean or Lloyd, who both played on teams that made the playoffs this past season.
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