Former Buccaneers All-Pro LB Addresses Latest Setback

Getty Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Devin White.

The Philadelphia Eagles made more than a modest investment in linebacker Devin White with a 1-year, $4 million contract in March 2024.

The former Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL All-Pro linebacker and Super Bowl champion was looking for a fresh start after a tumultuous final season with the team in 2023.

Before the season, White talked about being “dominant” with the Eagles, but just 2 games into the 2024 regular season he’s yet to play a down for Philadelphia and was even a healthy scratch for a Week 2 loss to the Atlanta Falcons — something that happened to him at the end of his tenure in Tampa Bay as well.

White was originally the starter at one of the inside linebacker spots now occupied by Nakobe Dean and told Sports Illustrated’s John McMullen that some hard lessons learned after he was benched in Tampa Bay are helping him now.

“Maybe it’s about how you respond,” White said on Sept. 18. “How you handle yourself because that’s the only thing I can control. I can’t put myself in the game but I can control my attitude, my health, every practice, and just my swagger in the building. Still come here every day like a pro and handle my business.

“… I think my situation last year with Tampa. I don’t think I handled it the best. It was a lot going on that we didn’t expect to go on, just far as you know, starting off asking for a trade. That wasn’t like me but I did it. I had to own up to it.”

Success Came Often, Early for White on Bucs

White was the No. 5 overall pick by the Buccaneers in the 2019 NFL Draft out of LSU, where he was a two-time All-American and the Butkus Award winner as the nation’s top college linebacker in 2018.

White was the first linebacker picked by Tampa Bay in the first round since they selected Pro Football Hall of Famer Derrick Brooks with the No. 28 overall pick out of Florida State in 1995.

White’s NFL was named to the NFL All-Rookie Team in 2019, won a Super Bowl and was named NFL All-Pro in 2020 and was a Pro Bowler in 2021.

After 5 seasons with the Buccaneers, White said he took a pay cut to play for Philadelphia.

“Rather taking such and such with another team that don’t have the pieces around to even allow me to become even better,” White told The Pivot podcast on Aug. 6. “For me, I know I have to rebuild myself and show I can be that dominant middle linebacker … to be on a great team that’s going to be great in the future and I want to be around long term.”

White Requested Trade After Contract Dispute

White’s game seemed to hit a wall in 2022. He missed a career-high 16 tackles and was targeted heavily in the passing game, where he gave up a whopping 120.5 passer rating.

White went into the offseason looking for a contract extension that would make him one of the NFL’s highest-paid inside linebackers. The Buccaneers opted to pick up the fifth-year option on his contract, which paid him $11.7 million in 2023.

White followed that up by demanding a trade, which the Buccaneers flatly refused.

White responded by having his worst season as a pro in 2023 — he missed a career-high 3 games and finished with a career-low 83 tackles.