© Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
Elite EDGE Prospect Says He Wants To Play For Buccaneers With Former Teammate
Could the Bucs reunite Laiatu Latu with one of his old teammates?
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers likely want a dominant EDGE to join the team, and it looks like one of those domiant EDGEs in the 2024 NFL Draft would like to join the Buccaneers.
UCLA EDGE Laiatu Latu would probably love to play for whoever happens to draft him, of course, but he has a particular connection with the Bucs. Laiatu was asked who he'd like to play for, and he mentioned Tampa Bay — bringing up a connection with one of his former teammates when he was a Washington Husky.
"Gotta play with my boy Joe Tryon," Laiatu said. "I'd love to play with my boy Joe Tryon over at the Bucs."
Laiatu's relationship with Tryon-Shoyinka goes back to when the two were teammates at Washington. The two played with each other from 2019-20. Tryon-Shoyinka would eventually opt out of the NCAA's COVID-19 season in 2020, though, and Latu would suffer a neck injury in 2020 that would force him to medically retire in 2021. He would eventually get cleared to play football again, though, and he finished out his career with the UCLA Bruins.
Latu may like the idea of reuniting with Tryon-Shoyinka, but that may be a daunting task for Tampa Bay. Latu is a very highly regarded prospect, and it's looking increasingly less likely that he'll be there when the Bucs pick at No. 26. His injury history may cause him to slide, however, so we'll have to wait and see when the first round kicks off on Thursday.
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