'A Better Situation!' Ex Bucs LB Devin White Reveals Reason for Signing With Eagles

Former Buccaneers linebacker Devin White spent five seasons in Tampa Bay after the team selected him No. 5 overall in the 2019 NFL Draft out of LSU.

White proved to be a high-yielding part of the defense - earning a second-team All-Pro in 2020 and Pro Bowl honors in 2021 - until the 2023 season, when he appeared to hit a wall with regard to production and effectiveness on the field.

When the former LSU Tiger hit free agency this offseason, the Bucs weren't interested.

But one team that came calling was the Philadelphia Eagles, and if you believe White, he thinks that is the best place for him to get his career back on track - even taking less money in Philly as he told The Pivot Podcast.

“I took less because I felt it was a better situation,” White said, via the Tampa Bay Times . “That lets you know it ain’t about the money. It ain’t ever been about the money. It’s about being in the right situation, the right environment. and being able to have fun.”

White's production decreased in 2023, and not just a little bit.

The linebacker went from 140 total tackles in 2020 to 128 in 2021, to 124 in 2022, all the way down to just 83 last season. His sack totals dwindled too, from 9 in 2020 to 3.5 in 2021, to 5.5 in 2022, down to just 2.5 last year.

White says he was dealing with a foot injury all season and tried to play through it - and that someone in the Bucs' organization who he would not name, told him to play through it.

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“That’s kind of when it went real downhill,” White said. “It was already downhill when I asked for the trade. . . . Everybody loved me at first, but when I asked for the trade and tried to do what was best for me, that turned everybody against me. Not everybody, but some higher-up people.”

White and Bucs coach Todd Bowles continues to have a good relationship, but it's obvious there are other people in the organization that White dislikes.

And now, White thinks he's in a much better spot in Philadelphia.