An Open Letter To Bucs ILB Devin White

If you don’t believe me, just ask general manager Jason Licht or head coach Todd Bowles. Or any of the other 31 teams that did not inquire about trading for you because they don’t believe you’re worth that much, either.

But I’m here to try to offer some wisdom and advice. I’ve been speaking to – and at times speaking for – the Pewter People for nearly three decades. That’s longer than you’ve been alive.

So I’ve got some advice for you that can help you mend fences with Bucs fans and get what you want – or close to it – with your next contract. It’s up to you to read it and apply it.

As someone who knows horses intimately, you know you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. So here it goes.

I started covering Tampa Bay in 1995 when Bucs legends Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks walked through the door. That’s important to understand because I’ve had the chance to cover the Top 5 linebackers in team history, and you’re part of that group.

But you, Devin White, are No. 5 on the list. Moving forward, it’s important that you know your place on this list – and what you need to do to move up that list.

You Are Among The Bucs’ Top 5 LBs Of All Time, Devin White

1. Derrick Brooks
2. Lavonte David
3. Hardy Nickerson
4. Shelton Quarles
5. Devin White

Brooks is the most decorated Bucs linebacker of all time with 11 Pro Bowl appearances and being selected as a first-team or second-team All-Pro nine times. Like you, Brooks also won a Super Bowl, but was the 2002 NFL Defensive Player of the Year in doing so. Brooks is Tampa Bay’s all-time leading tackler with 2,198 tackles, and he has the most interceptions by a linebacker in team history with 25, in addition to 24 forced fumbles.

Like you, David has only made one Pro Bowl, but he has also made one first-team All-Pro and two All-Pro second-team selections. And he is the team’s second-leading tackler all time with 1,346 tackles, trailing only Brooks. His 27 forced fumbles are the most in franchise history, and his 29 sacks are the most by an inside linebacker in Tampa Bay history. David teamed with you to help the Bucs win Super Bowl LV.

Nickerson was a five-time Pro Bowler in Tampa Bay and helped groom Brooks, Sapp and John Lynch into future Hall of Famers. He was also a two-time first-team All-Pro, and a two-time second-team All-Pro, and his 214 tackles in 1993 remains a Bucs single-season record. Nickerson, who is fourth on the team in tackles with 1,028, was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team in the 1990s.

Quarles has been with the Bucs for 17 years as a non-player, as a scout, a coaching assistant and director of football operations. On the field, he donned the red and pewter for a decade and finished his Tampa Bay career with 985 tackles, which ranks fifth all-time. Like you, he has one Pro Bowl selection, which came in 2002 when he moved to middle linebacker and helped the Bucs win Super Bowl XXXVII.

With 483 career tackles, one Pro Bowl berth and one Super Bowl victory, you are still behind Quarles, who had twice as many tackles as you did and played twice as long as you have in Tampa Bay.

Every one of these linebackers had at least one contract extension, but none of them – even Brooks, who held out of training camp for 11 days in 2001 over a contract dispute – wanted out of Tampa Bay. None of them skipped past the holdout stage and went right for the trade request.

So to help mend fences with not only the organization and your teammates, but also with Bucs fans, you need to publicly apologize. Not just with a statement on Twitter, but also in front of fans with a press conference during OTAs.

Oh, yeah. You need to show up for voluntary OTAs, too.

You Need To Apologize And Show Up For OTAs, Devin White

Devin, if you want any chance at regaining your popularity with fans and solidify your chances of retaining your captainship, you need to admit that you made a mistake requesting a trade and publicly apologize for asking to be trading. Everybody makes mistakes, and it’s human nature to forgive – especially if the apology is genuine.

Derrick Brooks, Shelton Quarles and Lavonte David have bled red and pewter, and played every down of their NFL career in a Buccaneers uniform. Bucs fans want, appreciate, and expect loyalty from their favorite players. Especially when they get invested enough to buy your jersey.

You will always have your die-hards, your forever Get Live 45ers. But with your smile, your infectious personality and your playmaking ability, you have the chance to be the most popular Bucs player on this team behind Mike Evans and David, but that’s going to come after a heartfelt apology to the fan base – and playing every down in 2023 like it’s your last for Tampa Bay.

And if you do that, you will not only draw interest from the Bucs but also every other team that needs a middle linebacker and has the cap room to afford your desired contract.

Don’t look at your fifth-year option as a punishment or something that’s holding you back. You got a hefty raise, and this is an amazing opportunity for you to shine in a defense that you should know like the back of your hand.

This is the time for you to embrace the doubters and the haters, and put that chip on your shoulder and play this year with an “I will show everybody” attitude.

If you want to stay in Tampa Bay past this season, you have a chance to become an icon with what you’ve already done for this franchise, and to do even more with your God-given athletic ability. If you stick around long enough, you’ll surpass Quarles and Nickerson and you will truly be up there with Brooks and David.

If you win one more Super Bowl and make more Pro Bowls and All-Pro teams you could wind up at the top of the list with Brooks or ahead of him. But that’s up to you.

The sooner you show up and apologize the faster this will be put behind you and the sooner you’ll be embraced again by Bucs fans and your teammates.

Study Your Opponents, Devin White

The reason why your trade request failed is because you failed to study your opponents, Devin. In this case, your opponents are general manager Jason Licht, who is 52, and head coach Todd Bowles, who turns 60 in November. These two men are the ones who will sign off a contract extension for you.

Neither believe you have played consistent enough football in your four years in Tampa Bay.

Like myself, who turned 51 in April, Licht and Bowles came up in a generation where there were no microwaved meals. In our generation, we had to peel the aluminum foil back on the Swanson TV dinners and put them in the oven for 45 minutes to cook.

Your generation is one of instant gratification, on-demand programs and live streaming.

Back in our day unless you had a Polaroid camera, if you take your film roll, which contained your pictures, to the drugstore to get the film developed. It would take several days to get your pictures back, I think people in our generation are far more patient than people in your generation.

That doesn’t necessarily mean our generation is better – just different, and more patient.

Your demand of $18 million-$20 million per year is a lot of money. It’s a major commitment and Licht and Bowles want to make sure you were worth it. They want to see you become a more consistent player in 2023 at the age of 25, and that’s going to require some patience on your part to appease them. That means playing on your fifth-year option and embracing this opportunity, Devin.

Your path to $20 million a year goes through Licht and Bowles – or another head coach and G.M. elsewhere, likely in their 50s, too. Accept their patience and watch it pay off for you.

The Bucs Have Already Found Your Replacement, Devin White

Before the 2023 NFL Draft, you had a favorable hand with your contract stance. Not a winning hand, but a favorable hand. Let’s say you had a full house – three 4’s and a pair of 5’s – in honor of the number 45.

There’s a good chance that 2023 is Lavonte David’s last season in Tampa Bay, and perhaps the NFL. David turns 34 next January. Finding his replacement wasn’t going to be easy. The reality of losing both David and possibly you next offseason was a scary situation until this year’s draft.

The Bucs spent a fifth-round pick on a linebacker they absolutely love in Pittsburgh’s SirVocea Dennis. He has yet to put on the pads, but the team loves his football I.Q., his instincts and his ability to blitz and cover. Dennis is thought of as David’s eventual replacement at the Mo linebacker spot.

But he could also replace you at Mike linebacker, too – if you don’t stick around.

The Bucs are also overjoyed at landing Tennessee’s Jeremy Banks as an undrafted free agent. He has second-round talent, but had some character issues in college. If he moves past that and focuses on football with this second chance, both Banks and Dennis could become starting-caliber linebackers … quickly.

The Bucs just beat your full house with an even better hand due to the arrival of Dennis and Banks.

Forget K.J. Britt, J.J. Russell and Ulysses Gilbert. They are more special teamers than linebackers on defense.

Dennis and Banks are legit threats to you given their potential.

With your four years of experience in Todd Bowles’ system, you have a decided advantage over both rookie linebackers, Devin. If I were you I would show up to OTAs and reassert myself as a starter – quickly.

If you wait until midway through training camp – or even at the start of training camp – you are allowing Dennis and Banks more opportunities to impress the Bucs’ brass in May and June. That’s not smart football, Devin.

You need to come back soon to maintain your captainship for this team. Lavonte David and Vita Vea will likely keep the C on their chest. If you aren’t there for mini camp and training camp, I could see your teammates making Antoine Winfield Jr. a captain instead.

Do You Want Money, Devin White – Or Do You Want To Be An Icon?

Devin, you’ve already made a lot of money. And if you’ve spent it and saved it wisely, you’re already set for life.

Your next contract, whether it’s in Tampa Bay or elsewhere, will be for a pretty good chunk of change. But you have to ask yourself – do you want to be just a great, well-paid NFL linebacker, or do you want to be a Buccaneer icon?

Money comes and goes, but icon status is forever.

The next time you are in Raymond James Stadium look up. See your former coach, Bruce Arians. See the names of Hall of Famers Derrick Brooks, Warren Sapp, John Lynch and Ronde Barber. Imagine the names of your teammates, Lavonte David and Mike Evans up there, too.

Do you want to see your name up there?

If so, play your heart out for the Buccaneers this year and remain committed to this team.

Be better in pass coverage and pick off some passes. Do a better job of shedding blocks and not getting pushed downfield. Rack up the sacks and even get to double digits this year like you are capable of doing.

And most importantly, be more consistent.

Whatever you think you’re worth, the Bucs just don’t agree with you right now.

When you come back to the team, Devin, be all in and embrace the opportunity to prove them – and everybody else – wrong. Truly play like a $20 million linebacker – not the $11.7 million linebacker you currently are.

Good luck.

Sincerely,

Scott Reynolds