Projected $100 Million Buccaneers Star ‘Self Destructed’ With Benching

This probably should have been a big year for the Buccaneers’ Devin White, a team captain and star playmaker who has earned a reputation as a versatile linebacker with the ability to pressure the quarterback and excel in coverage. With Tampa Bay surging lately and the playoffs well within grasp, White should not only be riding a wave of success, but looking at a big payday in free agency.

Indeed, Bleacher Report earlier this year had White’s next contract at $100 million over five years, as Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith got. Spotrac also estimates White’s value at $20.1 million per year, and has him projected to get a four-year, $80 million deal.

But things have gone off the rails for Devin White. He simply hasn’t been that good for the Buccaneers this season and, apparently, was set to be benched by coach Todd Bowles for Sunday’s huge Week 15 win over the Packers as White was coming back from a foot injury. Instead, despite having been a full participant in practice, White said he could not go at all on Sunday.

It’s brought this season to a thud for White.

As veteran Buccaneers reporter and analyst Scott Reynolds of the Pewter Report wrote, “White has just about self-destructed his own career. Inconsistent play and lack of effort are the culprit, especially this season, which is a contract year for White.”

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Todd Bowles Won’t Commit to Starting Devin White

It has been obvious since the White saga began this weekend that it is not something Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles wants to explain in very much depth. On Monday, after what might have been the biggest win of his tenure as Buccaneers head coach, the mild-mannered Bowles sparred with reporters over White’s status.

Bowles claimed he did not tell backup K.J. Britt he was going to start over White. When he was asked about it, he said, “Did I?”

When the response came that it was believed he did, Bowles said, “No, I didn’t.”

He also claimed that White told him “Saturday or Friday” that he would not be able to play because of a foot injury, contradicting and NFL Network report that White’s absence was not injury-related.

He added that when and if White does decide to play again, he would be in the linebacker rotation. Bowles did not say he would start again.

“When Devin gets healthy, we’ll rotate the players and see how it goes,” Bowles said.

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End of Buccaneers Career?

Again, this mess comes at a brutal time for White, who threatened a holdout and wanted to be traded in the offseason before he was given a franchise tag and came back for his fifth season. It’s likely to be his last with the Buccaneers, a remarkable turn for a player who was in the Pro Bowl after the 2021 season.

While both Spotrac and Bleacher report see White as still being a $20 million-per-year player, the Bucs surely don’t. His performance has waned over the last two seasons, and he has been dealing with the foot injury for much of this season.

At Pro Football Focus, which grades players on a play-by-play basis throughout the season, the alarm bells on White have been going off for a while. White has a grade this season of 39.2 which, according to PFF, ranks 80^th out of 81 linebackers in the NFL. On its list of top NFL free agents next offseason, PFF does not have White ranked in the top 50.

Britt, for what it’s worth, has a grade of 80.0 on 137 snaps. That is second on the team defensively, behind only Antoine Winfield Jr.

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