Buccaneers Pro Bowler makes telling move after trade request
Could Devin White be having a change of heart?
The former Pro Bowl linebacker appeared all but finished with his tenure in Tampa Bay after requesting a trade from the Buccaneers back in April. However, fast forward two months and White remains a part of the roster.
The more time that passes, the more likely it is that the LSU product remains in Florida. His actions over the weekend further reinforce that notion, as White voluntarily showed up to join Bucs teammates for a promotional photo shoot.
Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times noted that the team expects White to attend their three-day minicamp which kicks off on Tuesday, adding that "looking through a new lens Sunday, he appeared happy and ready to play for the Bucs in 2023."
White, 25, is scheduled to earn a base salary of $11.7M in 2023 while playing on his fifth-year option. The lack of contract extension talks between the Buccaneers and White is believed to be what led to the latter's trade request. There's also the current state of the team's outlook following Tom Brady's retirement to factor in. White has been a part of three consecutive playoff runs, including a Super Bowl victory in 2020. It's understandable if he wasn't overly eager to be a part of the Baker Mayfield/Kyle Trask era.
This past season White amassed 124 combined tackles and 5.5 sacks. Since being drafted No. 5 overall in 2019, he's flashed big-play potential and has been an absolute stat sheet stuffer, accumulating 483 tackles and 20.5 sacks during his career. With that said, the stats don't tell the whole story. White is an analytics nightmare, owning a career Pro Football Focus grade of just 44.2, which could be a telling factor in why trade talks surrounding White never materialized.
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