Despite getting off to a 3-1 start to the 2024 regular season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers aren’t close to a finished product. Plenty of positions on the field need work. Some even need emergency upgrades.
One of those position groups is inside linebacker, where an aging Lavonte David leads a defense that’s giving up 5.0 yards per carry and just saw one of its promising young talents, inside linebacker SirVocea Dennis, placed on the injured reserve on Oct. 2 after hurting his shoulder.
Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox thinks the solution might come from giving a former Tampa Bay star a second chance, suggesting a trade for embattled Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Devin White, who hasn’t been on the active roster through the first 4 games as a healthy scratch.
White was selected No. 5 overall by the Buccaneers in the 2019 NFL draft out of LSU and spent his first 5 seasons with the franchise.
“The unknown here is just how valuable White can be at this point in his career,” Knox wrote. “… after sitting for the first month of his 2024 campaign, the 26-year-old may not be ready to jump right back into a starting role. A trade back to Tampa could make some sense, given his familiarity with the defensive scheme and the Bucs’ struggles against the run.”
White Became Star Early in His Career With Bucs
White 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. White said he took a pay cut to play for Philadelphia., where he signed a 1-year, $4 million contract in March 2024.
“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 Had Messy Exit From Tampa Bay
In 2022, White 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 had his worst season as a pro in 2023. He missed a career-high 3 games and finished with a career-low 83 tackles. In Philadelphia, he 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.”
