Report: Buccaneers, Lavonte David at 'meaningful distance' in contract talks

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are negotiating with linebacker Lavonte David over a contract extension, as the team said it intended to do after the draft, but there remains "meaningful distance" between the two sides' objectives, Rand Getlin of NFL Network reports.

David, who accumulated 430 tackles in his first three seasons while proving to be one of the league's best coverage linebackers, is arguably the team's most important defensive player and one it likely wants to keep around for the foreseeable future.

The Bucs are in rebuild mode after securing Jameis Winston and Mike Evans early in the last two drafts. Those moves have seemingly steered the offense in the right direction and locking up David would go a long way toward doing the same on the defensive side of the ball.