One of the best parts of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 2020 Super Bowl run was everyone got to see one of the best players in franchise history, Lavonte David, win it all in the first postseason appearance of his career.

David was drafted in 2012, but he entered one of the worst eras in Buccaneers history. Before 2020, David experienced just one winning season with the team and that 9-7 season did not include a playoff appearance. Seven of the first eight seasons of his career featured seven wins or fewer. 

That's obviously something no player wants to go through and it's completely reasonable if a player never wants to return to those dark years.

And that's why it really seemed like David was destined to play elsewhere for the first time in his career.

The Buccaneers have had a solid offseason, thus far, but their overall outlook is still questionable, at best. The quarterback position is an open competition, the offensive line is in full rebuild mode, and Dave Canales has yet to prove he can be a successful offensive coordinator in the NFL. 

The defense should be the backbone of the team. But even then, the Buccaneers may have to replace two starters on the defensive line, their nickel corner, and two starting safeties. The top pass rusher, Shaq Barrett is also coming off an Achilles tear and there's no guarantee he returns to peak form.

The most encouraging aspect of the 2023 season, so far, is the NFC South looks like it's headed for another year of misery. Granted, things could quickly change depending on what happens with the Panthers and the No. 1 pick and the New Orleans Saints picked up Derek Carr. But, overall, the NFC South is nowhere near what first comes to mind when thinking about the NFL's most competitive divisions.

So, it's easy to see why David would prefer to play for a team that has a chance to compete because it's a good team. Not because of the low bar set around it.

And that's why Buccaneers fans should feel good about his return. Yes, he's one of the more beloved players in franchise history – that's plenty of reason, enough.

But it's also clear that he thinks this team can compete in 2023. 

Otherwise, there's no point in coming back to the Buccaneers. David doesn't owe the team anything and the team doesn't owe him anything. It's been a wonderful partnership that's resulted in ultimate success. so it makes complete business sense to part ways if needed.

"I don’t take it for granted," David said before last year's playoff matchup with the Dallas Cowboys. "Like you said, it takes a while to get here. It’s hard to get here. As you guys have seen, this season was rough – it was a battle to get here.

"But you definitely don’t take these opportunities for granted – you never know when you’re going to be back here again… it’s definitely a situation where every football player would dream to be in.”

The dream lives on for at least one more year. And when looking at David's decision, it should be a pretty fun one.