Lavonte David: Mike Evans Didn’t Tell Me Exactly Why He Left The Bucs
March 26th, 2026
Former Bucs linebacker Lavonte David sat down this week and was asked about the departure of fellow Bucs legend Mike Evans in free agency.
“Did that surprise you, Mike leaving?” David was asked on CBS Sports HQ.
“It did. It did,” David replied.
“But me and Mike have a personal relationship, so I knew it was coming already. He kind of told me already what he was. And just me knowing Mike — he didn’t tell me exactly why he was leaving — but me knowing Mike, I feel like he’s a competitor and I think it was just time for a change of scenery for him. Just because, you know, he just wanted a different challenge.”
Joe found this very interesting. So David, a guy Evans has said many times is a mentor to him and a brother, a guy who was Evans’ teammate for 12 years, didn’t get an exact explanation from Evans why he was leaving their team.
This revelation comes on the heels of Buccaneers Ring of Honor general manager Jason Licht revealing eight days ago that he didn’t have a phone conversation with Evans following Evans deciding to leave for the 49ers.
Man, Joe would have expected Evans to handle a Bucs departure much differently with those he was close to.