Per NFL.com, the Kansas City Chiefs’ Justin Houston, the Green Bay Packers’ Clay Matthews, the Washington Redskins’ Ryan Kerrigan and the Seattle Seahawks’ Bobby Wagner are the only linebackers with higher average salaries than David’s $10.05 million. The deal is reportedly worth $50.25 million, $25.56 million of which is guaranteed, and will keep him under contract through 2020. Last year, David amassed 146 tackles and one sack with four forced fumbles.
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RED members will also have access to exclusive networking events throughout the year designed to encourage interaction while providing practical advice on how to express their love for the Bucs into original design projects, fashion-forward team apparel and creative culinary creations.
Tampa is starting to build a talented defense with linemen Gerald McCoy and George Johnson and cornerbacks Alterraun Verner and Johnthan Banks, but David is and will continue to be the cornerstone guy. He had 101 solo tackles, the second-most in the league. David has virtually no weaknesses in his game, and is undoubtedly one of the five best 4-3 linebackers in the NFL. During his three year career, David has amassed 319 tackles, and he has played in 46 out of a possible 48 games. He is being compensated like the All-Pro player that he is, but not in a way that will hurt the Bucs down the road. He is the only player in the NFL with 10 or more sacks and six or more interceptions since the start of the 2012 season. Along with Levy and Carolina’s Thomas Davis, he is one of the NFL’s most underappreciated stars. As I mentioned, I talked about five interceptions (this coming season), but it’s the “55 Club” – five interceptions, five sacks every year for a great linebacker.
“I put football first, ahead of everything, ” David said.
“You see it with the brains”, Smith said. He opted to go to school and play football, despite not playing his first year. The sky really is the limit.
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“We’re going to reward those and re-invest into our draft picks, ” general manager Jason Licht said.
