No one can deny the impact inside linebacker Devin White had during his time with the Bucs. After being drafted fifth overall by Tampa Bay in 2019, White hit the ground running, putting together an impressive streak of games highlighted by his 2020 season in which he captained the Bucs defense that backed up quarterback Tom Brady and led them to a Super Bowl victory.

He was well on his way to following in Derrick Brooks’ footsteps and becoming the designated successor to Lavonte David.

This will continue the team’s elite play in this position into the 21st century.

But then his performance declined in 2022.

White demanded a transfer before the 2023 season. It was a year full of ups and downs. Elite play in the season opener, followed by an injury in Week 3 against the Eagles. The ups and downs eventually led to his downfall, and he talked about “The Pivot Podcast”, He detailed how he went from being one of the league’s best inside linebackers to leaving Tampa Bay and signing a one-year, $4 million deal with the Eagles as a testament to his abilities.

“Get Live 45” had a lot to say.

Devin White on his tenure with the Bucs: “I had one of the best years in the league for four years”

Bucs ILB Devin White – Photo by: USA Today

Right at the start of the podcast, former NFL safety and current media star Ryan Clark asked Devin White about the ups and downs of his NFL career so far. White was quick to defend himself for playing while injured last year and talked about his dominant stretch of play.

“When you look at it now, it’s just — everything comes full circle,” White said. “I just feel like a lot of situations, opportunities and injuries are mishandled. Injuries play a big part. If you look at my tape and go back from when I was a kid, through high school, college, and all the way through my time in the league, I was never injured.”

“Putting together a great resume, like you said, man, I think I had one of the best four years in the league that you could imagine. My agent and I knew, ‘You’re next. You’ve got to go out and take care of yourself.’ regarding my contract situation. That’s exactly what we focused on in my fifth season.”

There’s no denying that White has played at an elite level at inside linebacker at times, but there’s also no denying that his play has declined significantly over the last two years with the Bucs. While his stats show a high number of tackles and sacks, they don’t show him missing plays, making gaps in coverage, and overall lacking field vision.

This all culminated in head coach Todd Bowles Demotion of White in favor of KJ Britt during the team’s Week 15 game against the Packers.

Devin White believed the Bucs would take care of him

Even though Devin White was on the bench and played less in the final period, Todd Bowles and others told him that he would be taken care of in the offseason.

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles and ILB Devin White – Photo by: USA Today

“After the season, Coach Bowles and everyone else said, ‘We’re going to take care of you. You’re our guy, that’s why we drafted you,’ and there was a mentality like, ‘I’m their guy, I’m going to get what I deserve,'” White said. “You start planning things in advance. I had a piece of land right there in Tampa that I was going to get so my family would be comfortable. But it just didn’t work out that way. Once we got in and started talking to the GM and everything, it was, ‘Well, we had planned for you to play with your fifth-year option,’ and so on.”

Hoping to sign a new contract, White initially demanded a trade to get the team to trade. Although he said “a lot of teams” called, he finished the season in Tampa Bay. Tory Dandy, his agent, compared his game performance to that of other top inside linebackers in hopes of getting big money.

It never happened.

“I don’t know and I’m like, ‘Okay, what’s next?’ I have to do what’s best for me,” White added.Man, Roquan (Smith) did that before me. Tory had all his stuff together. He had all my stats, Fred Warner. He showed me how he was going to break it down to present to them for a contract. We didn’t even get that far. They just said, ‘We have plans for you, and that was for you to play under your five-year option.’ He told me that on the phone, and I said, ‘I want to hear it from them.'”

Bucs ILB Devin White – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

White then returned to Tampa Bay and said that Bowles supported him in the face-to-face meeting, but management did not.

“So I bought my own plane ticket, flew back to Tampa and talked to Coach Bowles and Jason Licht, and Jason reinforced it to me. At that point, it was out of the head coach’s hands. He doesn’t control the contracts. He let them know, ‘This is my player, this is who I want.’ At the end of the day, as always, he has the utmost respect. He really stood up to me and behind closed doors.”

In the end, the Bucs decided to let him go. Devin White then decided to sign with the Eagles to do what was best for him. In his opinion, he did his best after his injury last season, but it wasn’t enough to be re-signed by the team that drafted him high.

Whether his decline last season was due to injury or declining performance, White will answer one way or the other in 2024.