Does Trading for Devin White Make Sense for the Miami Dolphins?

Devin White is a phenomenal athlete, a dynamic defender.

He’s arguably the best inside linebacker in the NFL right now, which explains why the 2021 Pro Bowl selection is demanding a new deal that pays him as if he’s one.

And why he's requested a trade from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who seem to be playing hardball in their negotiations with the former first-round pick.

Breaking: Bucs LB Devin White has requested a trade, sources told @JennaLaineESPN.

The team doesn’t want to trade him, but he wants to be traded as he is coming up on his fifth-year option, per @AdamSchefter. pic.twitter.com/S8CavFmJJF
— ESPN (@espn) April 11, 2023

Tough negotiations and subsequent trade demands are the norm for this time of season considering players and agents have some leverage in the offseason, and teams are more open to moving players for picks with the NFL draft weeks away.

But that doesn’t mean teams like the Buccaneers are giving away good players, or that teams like the Miami Dolphins have the picks and cap space to make a deal work for White, who contributed 124 tackles, 5.5 sacks, forced two fumbles and recovered three last season.

Tampa Bay would be foolish to ask for anything less than a first-round pick for White, who has averaged 120 tackles a season in his first four years, and has contributed 20.5 sacks and one interception.

DOLPHINS OBSTACLES TO PULLING OFF THIS KIND OF TRADE

The Dolphins don’t have a first-round pick in the 2023 draft because of the trade that produced pass rusher Bradley Chubb, as well as the punishment Miami received last summer after the investigation that revealed the Dolphins tampered with Tom Brady and Sean Payton.

And Miami also lacks the cap space needed to make a deal happen since creating the room to trade for White, who is guaranteed $11.7 million for the 2023 season because of his fifth-year option, would be an accounting challenge.

Miami has only $3 million in cap space with which to work heading into the draft, which means the team can only afford to sign players to contracts that pay $2 million or less until the $13.6 million Miami will receive on June 1 from the release of cornerback Byron Jones hits the books.

And even if the Dolphins were able to create the necessary cap space to land a big-ticket item like White by restructuring more contracts (Christian Wilkins and Connor Williams are ideal candidates), or making other trades (receiver Cedrick Wilson Jr. is on the trade block), landing another high-priced player would create a financial mess for the Dolphins in 2024 considering they already have $187.5 million in cap space allocated to eight players.

A new deal for White, who clearly is seeking a multi-year contract to protect himself from injuries, likely would have to match, if not exceed, the five-year, $100 million extension the Baltimore Ravens gave Roquan Smith late last season.

Smith, who received $45 million fully guaranteed at signing and will average $20 million a season for all five years of his contract, accounts for $9 million in cap space in 2023 and $13.5 million in 2024.

It is also possible that Miami is comfortable with where the team is regarding the inside linebacker spot after signing David Long Jr. to a two-year, $10 million deal last month, and allowing Jerome Baker’s guarantees to trigger, meaning he’ll be paid $8.4 million this season.

Miami also re-signed Duke Riley and has Channing Tindall, a 2022 third-round pick, as the primary backup inside linebackers.

If the Dolphins do add an inside linebacker it likely will be a budget-conscious signing like Jaylon Smith, Zach Cunningham, Rashaan Evans, Kwon Alexander or Myles Jack, who are all still free agents looking for a new team, and a new deal.

The bottom line is that trading for White doesn’t make sense for the franchise at this time.