Buccaneers' Long-Term Viability Secured With Lavonte David Extension

What a difference a year makes for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. To be more accurate, what a difference eight months make. 

Linebacker Lavonte David signed a five-year contract extension Monday with a max value of $54.95 million, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. This deal is further evidence that a legitimate foundation is being built for the Buccaneers' long-term success. 

Last year at this time, the Buccaneers were one of the hot picks to make the playoffs after the team hired Lovie Smith as its head coach plus spent millions of dollars during free agency to acquire defensive end Michael Johnson, left tackle Anthony Collins, quarterback Josh McCown, cornerback Alterraun Verner and defensive tackle Clinton McDonald. 

Johnson, Collins and McCown are no longer with the franchise after the team thudded to a 2-14 record, which was tied for the NFL's worst last season and warranted the No. 1 overall pick in April's NFL draft. 

The organization isn't bereft of talent, though. The Buccaneers now have five key components in place that are either in the prime or at the onset of their careers. A sixth could join the conversation if this year's second-round pick, Donovan Smith, pans out at the all-important left tackle position. 

It starts on defense with David and All-Pro defensive tackle Gerald McCoy. 

When Smith decided to return to Tampa Bay after previously serving as an assistant to Tony Dungy, his addition marked the return of the team's vaunted Cover 2 defensive scheme. 

Two positions, weak-side linebacker and 3-technique, are vitally important in the system, even if it has been tweaked since the Buccaneers made it famous years earlier. 

David's extension secures high level play from the weak-side linebacker spot over the next half decade. 

Pro Football Focus' Jeff Dooley identified just how good the 25-year-old linebacker has been during his first three seasons: 

"

–His combination of durability and productivity is off the charts, having played 96 percent of snaps to this point in his three-year career, and ranking in the top seven of our grading of 4-3 outside linebackers each season.

–His 228 defensive stops in his career are by far the most of any player at any position over that three-season period.

–His 13.4 run-stop percentage in 2014 was second only to DeAndre Levy—another underrated star who just cashed in—and he was very effective in coverage, as well.

"

Last season, amid a terrible overall team effort, David played at a very high level. The Nebraska product finished third in the NFL with 146 total tackles and led his team with 19 tackles for loss. 

General manager Jason Licht described the linebacker as an "elite" player, per Buccaneers.com's Scott Smith, and he's now paid as such. The Tampa Bay defender became the NFL's highest-paid 4-3 linebacker in total contract worth. 

Player	Team	Years	Total Value	Guaranteed
Lavonte David	Bucs	5	$50.25 million	$25.56 million
Bobby Wagner	Seahawks	4	$43 million	$21.99 million
Sean Lee	Cowboys	6	$42 million	$16.13 million
Jame Laurinaitis	Rams	5	$41.5 million	$13.62 million
DeAndre Levy	Lions	4	$33.74 million	$24 million

While reaching a certain monetary benchmark was important to David, his primary goal remains the same. 

"Winning is the main thing," David said at Monday's press conference, per ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas. “You get known for winning. If you’re winning, people will look at the things that you’ve done. That’s what we want to do here."

Who was the first to publicly congratulate David after he signed his extension? McCoy. 

This is important on multiple levels. 

First, McCoy and David are the leaders of the Buccaneers defense. Second, the duo trusts each other to be in the right spots or correct one another's mistakes. And, finally, the Buccaneers now have playmakers signed long term along each level of their defense. 

The 27-year-old defensive tackle, who signed a seven-year, $98 million extension in October, is already one of the NFL's best defensive tackles. His explosion off the snap is unequaled, and he's only going to be better this fall after reporting to training camp in the best shape of his career:

The fifth-year defensive tackle has already been named to three All-Pro and Pro Bowl teams. Still, he hasn't experienced much overall team success. He wants to change the Buccaneers' losing culture.  

"All of those are individual awards, I've never sniffed the playoffs," McCoy told Bleacher Report in April. "People looking at leadership in the wrong way. A true test of a leader is not where you're going. It's how many people are willing to follow you. That's what I'm all about now. I'm trying to get guys to get on board, follow me and play the right way."

McCoy might plan to put the team on his back this season, but his running mate will never be too far behind him. David wanted to play alongside McCoy for the majority of their careers, per the Tampa Bay Times' Rick Stroud: 

With McCoy and David set to dominate along the first and second lines of defense, the team will rely heavily on Verner to return to Pro Bowl form in the secondary. The 26-year-old cornerback signed a four-year, $25.74 million free-agent contract last offseason. 

His play was up and down at times during his first season in Tampa Bay, but Verner still proved to be one of the Buccaneers' bright spots among the defensive backs. His status as the team's top cover corner isn't in question. 

With McCoy, David and Verner setting the tone on defense, the team primarily concentrated on its offense during the offseason. 

The team selected former Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston with the first overall pick in this year's NFL draft. 

Last year, neither McCown nor Mike Glennon proved they could elevate the play of those around them. Quarterback then became the organization's No. 1 concern this offseason. 

After a thorough predraft investigation into the player and person, Winston became the team's top choice, and he's been everything he was advertised to be.  

"I was saying it yesterday that I thought he actually had really good pocket presence," Verner said about the team's rookie signal-caller, per Buccaneers.com's Joe Kania. "You see him feel the pressure and you see him step up and keep his eyes downfield. For me, at corner, most of the time I’m looking at him so I’m trying to look at where he’s looking at and you never see him stop scanning the field, even when you see the blitz coming and things like that. I think that’s been very impressive to me on his part."

The first-year quarterback is a fearless gunslinger, but he continues to impress teammates with his overall preparation. 

"I heard he learned the offense in two days, a day or two, something like that," wide receiver Mike Evans told JoeBucsFan.com. "Crazy. And he’s a quarterback, so he has to know what everybody’s doing. Me, it took me a while and I only have to know one or two positions. So that speaks for itself. Great football mind. One of the hardest workers I’ve been around."

There will undoubtedly be growing pains for the Buccaneers' new franchise quarterback, but the early returns are all positive. His ability to make plays should help the organization take a step in the right direction this fall and provide long-term stability at the game's most important position. 

But a quarterback needs weapons around him to truly be successful.

The 6-5, 228-pound Evans is already one of the NFL's top targets. As a rookie, the Texas A&M product broke multiple Buccaneers' rookie receiving records with 68 catches for 1,051 yards and 12 touchdowns. In a Week 11 victory against the Washington Redskins, Evans became the youngest player in NFL history with more than 200 receiving yards in a single game. 

It won't be long before the rookie quarterback and second-year wide receiver are on the same page and terrorizing NFL secondaries, as the Buccaneers' official Twitter feed perfectly illustrated: 

A few issues remain on Tampa Bay's roster, though, particularly along the team's offensive line.

Last year's starting offense line became a complete disaster. Collins never lived up to his contract. Right guard was never settled. Center Evan Smith struggled. And right tackle Demar Dotson was forced to take over on the blind side late in the season.

The team invested heavily in the position during the draft, but it's still a work in progress and the most likely reason why the Buccaneers won't make a massive leap during the upcoming season.

Key foundation-building parts are now in place, however, for the Buccaneers to look toward their future with hope. David, McCoy, Verner, Winston and Evans will have multiple seasons to play together before any of them reach the dreaded 30-years-old plateau. These are the core pieces a team needs to experience long-term viability as a winning franchise. And all of them are now signed for the long haul. 

"We’re going to reward those and re-invest into our draft picks," Licht said during David's press conference. "It’s the best way to build a championship team, which we’re doing."

All salary cap information courtesy of Spotrac.com. Brent Sobleski covers the NFL draft for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @brentsobleski.