Devin White Has Already Forgotten About Last Season With Buccaneers
The saga that is the power struggle between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and LB Devin White is now over after the latter signed a one-year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles during the free agency period.
Over the past year or two, there has been constant overhang on what to do with White after he was looking for a massive contract extension. Those contract negotiations never really went anywhere as the Buccaneers wanted White to prove that he could return to the type of player we saw early in his career when he helped lead the Bucs to a Super Bowl in 2020.
That never materialized for White, as he started losing a large percentage of his snaps to his backup K.J. Britt during the 2023 season and seemingly saw his playing time cut massively by the end of the year.
Now with the Eagles, one of the Buccaneers' biggest rivals outside of their own division, White spoke with reporters in which he expressed his gratitude to the Bucs for his time there but that he is moving forward now after his final season in the red and pewter.
“None of that really matters to me. I don’t really remember what happened. I’m all tunnel vision on the future and what can happen in the future here.”
As mentioned, White's play over the past couple of seasons has taken a major dip after bursting onto the scene as one of the best linebackers in the league after being drafted fifth overall by the Bucs in the 2019 draft out of LSU. He went on to be named a second-team All-Pro during the Bucs' Super Bowl run in 2020 and was also named a Pro Bowl selection the following year in 2021.
Since then his production has slipped, and when comparing himself now to where he was during his All-Pro days, White pointed towards getting a new start and his health as a way to get back into his old ways.
"I'm 100 percent healthy. That's where it starts. ...I'm back in a great mental standpoint. It's 'ball, ball, ball' — not a lot of other distractions going on, whatever it is — being a father, trying to get a new contract. Right now, it's just ball. Mentally, I'm in a better position. A fresh-start position. When I came in the NFL, I had no expectations — just wanted to play ball, have fun, and win games. I'm really just back into that mindset."
White continued by taking a bit of a shot at the Buccaneers organization when talking about his one-year deal with the Eagles, calling this opportunity one that is a "bigger stage", "bigger platform", and "better all-around team".
"It's an opportunity to show why I was top-five, why I helped a team win the Super Bowl. To prove. I don't lack any confidence on a one-year deal. ...Last year wasn't who you were, that's never been Devin White on tape. ...Now you get an opportunity on a bigger stage, it's a bigger platform here, it's a better all-around team built right here, right now to do great things. And I want to be a part of that."
White may not have had the best ending in Tampa Bay, but to continue to bash an organization that brought you into the league and helped make you an All-Pro on the way to a Lombardi Trophy doesn't scream the ultimate teammate no matter how good one might think they are.
Either way, both teams are moving on and the Buccaneers will no longer have the controversy around White hanging above them. The Bucs will without a doubt have to look at the linebacker room during free agency in the draft now that White is off to Philadelphia and OLB/Edge Shaq Barrett is off to Miami.
Stick with BucsGameday for more coverage of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers throughout the 2024 offseason.
