The Tampa Bay Buccaneers focused on keeping their high value free agents this offseason. But it’s the signing of safety Jordan Whitehead that has star linebacker Lavonte David excited.
“Man, that might be the biggest one back,” David said recently. “Whitehead was a guy who, obviously, I built a personal relationship with. Just having him behind me on the field gave me a whole bunch of confidence, knowing that I could count on Whitehead to do his job. For whatever happened, he didn’t have a chance to come back, but still he was communicating with us about how much he missed us and stuff like that … He wanted to come back here – that was his first priority, so I’m glad [they] were able to get that done.”
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David talks about Whitehead’s value off the field.
“Whitehead, he is a special guy, not only on the football field, but as a person,” David stated. “For me, I’m all about energy and seeing the good in people and stuff like that. I’ve kind of got a sixth sense for that and Whitehead is one of those guys that is a joy to be around as a man and as a teammate. He just brings that type of passion to the game that you love. When you are playing with a guy like Whitehead, you can just look him in the eyes and know that he is ready to play, so you don’t even need to worry about him. Off the field, the way he carries himself and goes about things, he’s a pro’s pro and [those are] the [type] of guys we’ve got to have in this locker room.”
Whitehead’s return to Tampa reunites him with Antoine Winfield Jr. Look for the pair to pick up where they left off in 2020. As David said, having Whitehead back there gives him and the defense “confidence”.
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