Lavonte David Agrees to 5-Year Contract Extension with Buccaneers

Lavonte David was entering the final year of his contract, and both he and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had no interest in testing the free-agent waters, as the two sides agreed to a contract extension Sunday, per the team's Twitter account.

Ian Rapoport of NFL.com spoke to David's agents, who said the deal is for five years and is worth $50.25 million with $25.56 million guaranteed.

On July 23, speaking on NFL Total Access, NFL Network's Rand Getlin reported negotiations between David and Tampa Bay began back at the 2015 draft (via NFL.com's Chris Wesseling). 

Although David missed two games last year, he remains one the marquee players at his position. He made the All-Pro team in 2013 and finished as the Bucs' runaway leader in total tackles (145).

Back in April, Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht said the team would focus more of its attention on re-signing David once the draft was over, per Mark Cook of PewterReport.com.

Given Tampa Bay's rebuilding efforts around Jameis Winston on the offensive side of the ball, keeping a player of David's caliber was a no-brainer, and there was no chance the team was going to let David slip through its grasp.