The curious case of Devin White took another turn away from the path most expected when the linebacker signed a one-year contract with the Eagles on March 18, just days after the free-agent market opened for business.
White was ruled out of Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a personal matter. Returning to Tampa, which drafted him fifth overall in 2019, is certainly not the homecoming he envisioned when he agreed to come to Philadelphia.
Perhaps nothing should surprise anymore with the 26-year-old White. So, it wouldn’t surprise if the Eagles decided to release him during the team’s bye week coming out of Tampa, to give him a shot at latching on elsewhere and open a spot on the 53-man roster.
After White missed the season opener against the Green Bay Packers, with what was listed as an ankle injury, and not even traveling to Brazil, head coach Nick Sirianni said Nakobe Dean had won the starting job over White during training camp, but that the Eagles would need him at some point because it’s a long season.
Four games in, counting Sunday, White hasn’t taken a single snap. He hasn’t even been active in the two games he was available.
Through it all, White has been an exemplary teammate, always smiling and upbeat in the locker room, unafraid of showing his face after losing his job even though his pride had to be smarting. He said he believed the Eagles wanted Dean to win the job, and to Dean’s credit, he did.
It wasn’t handed to Dean like last year when he entered his second season after the departures of former starters T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White left in free agency.
Now, what to do with White? Teams weren’t exactly beating down his door when he left the Bucs as a free agent. Things have changed, though. Injuries have already piled up after just three weeks of the season.
Linebackers are the most injured position in football, accounting for 13.5% of all injuries.
In Denver, former Eagles linebacker Alex Singleton tore an ACL and was replaced by former Eagles linebacker Zach Cunningham. The Falcons lost three linebackers already, including Nate Landman to a knee injury.
There would likely be an opportunity for White should Eagles general manager Howie Roseman decide to let him go.
White, however, is good insurance for the Eagles if something were to happen to Dean and starter Zack Baun. Except they do have some depth at the position in Ben VanSumeren and rookie Jeremiah Trotter, Jr., both of whom had solid training camps. The Eagles also have a veteran in Oren Burks.
Should the Eagles cut White it would open a spot on the 53-man roster, which they could use to possibly add Parris Campbell. The receiver was elevated to the active roster for Sunday against the Bucs, but he is out of elevations now, so he needs to be added to the roster, or the Eagles must move on from him.
It might make sense to move on from White now rather than let him twist in limbo.
