Quincy Williams deal makes life difficult for Buccaneers and Lavonte David
The Buccaneers are slowly getting boxed in.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers might be back in the green in cap space after some fancy maneuvering by Jason Licht and company, but that doesn't mean fans need to shift their expectations about how the next week will go.
Good players are leaving. At this point, it's just a matter of time.
One player that already looked likely to depart was future Ring of Honor member Lavonte David, and recent news from the Jets makes this prospect all the more likely.
There are obviously still some ways for the Bucs to get creative with the cap and contracts to keep David, but his desire to test free agency is going to bring offers to the table that Tampa has no shot of competing with.
The market has a way of overpaying, and it is fair to say that Quincy Williams' newest deal is going to make keeping David with the Bucs next to impossible.
Williams is currently slated to make something in the neighborhood of $6 million per year, which would be manageable for the Bucs, but Williams and David are very far apart as players.
Quincy Williams is a talented, young linebacker that can give you very consistent reps from a starting role. Lavonte David is a fringe Hall of Famer that puts together seasons like Williams did in 2022 in his sleep.
LVD is still one of the best in the league at his position and it isn't particularly close. If Williams is worth $6 million (which is likely team-friendly due to the timing of the deal), then David is going to easily go above $10 million per year, and that could come from far more competitive teams than the Buccaneers.
If one general manager could find a way to keep David on the team, it is Jason Licht, but even his cap skills may be put to the test with such a precedent being in place.
No one wants to talk about it yet, but Lavonte David leaving the Buccaneers just became that much more realistic.
