Tom Brady already brought in one of the Buccaneers’ former Super Bowl LV starters, adding Alex Cappa. The new Raiders part-owner will now add another of his former Tampa Bay teammates.
Devin White is joining the Raiders on a one-year deal, Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz tweets. New Raiders GM John Spytek was in Tampa when the Bucs drafted White fifth overall. Despite White washing out of Philly quickly, he will have a rebound opportunity in Vegas.
The Raiders lost linebacker starters Robert Spillane and Divine Deablo in free agency (to the Patriots and Falcons, respectively) and have not done much to replace him. Elandon Roberts is on a one-year, $3MM contract. While the draft will be a key area for the Raiders to upgrade, they will take a flier on White, whose value has cratered since the Bucs picked up his fifth-year option.
Given a one-year, $4MM deal to join the Eagles last year, White received more at signing than Zack Baun. The latter surged to a breakthrough season that ended with a first-team All-Pro nod; White did not play a down for Vic Fangio‘s defense. The Eagles released the LSU in early October, doing so after he had an opportunity to land a starting role. Instead, Baun joined Nakobe Dean as Philly’s primary starters. White finished out last season with the Texans, who used him in seven games (one start).
Even the $4MM Eagles agreement represented a massive step down for White, who is the most recent off-ball linebacker to have seen his option exercised. White made $11.7MM on the option in 2023, but he did not finish the season as full-time Bucs LB. Clashing with the team about his role and an injury situation — and accusations of freelancing — White lost time to K.J. Britt alongside Lavonte David. White, 27, believes the trade request he made during the 2023 offseason — one aimed at landing a top-five ILB extension elsewhere — damaged his reputation inside the Bucs’ building. But his 2024 did not support the theory his Tampa finale was an outlier.
White has a notable past against the Raiders, having delivered one of his best performances during a Bucs win in Vegas during the 2020 season. He recorded three sacks, 11 tackles and a forced fumble during that game, with it playing a central role in the second-level defender’s second-team All-Pro season. White totaled nine sacks and 140 tackles in his second season, which preceded two more 120-plus-tackle slates. Despite the accolades, White saw Pro Football Focus consistently rate him as one of the NFL’s worst LB regulars. After ranking him outside the top 60 in 2019 and ’20, PFF slotted the Bucs’ David sidekick outside the top 70 at the position from 2021-23. White only played 176 snaps last season.
A controversy involving a White foot injury, which prompted an NFL investigation into the situation, brought Britt into a regular role late in the 2023 season. White has not regained one since that development, playing just 40 defensive snaps in Tampa Bay’s two 2023 playoff games. The Raiders will offer a chance at redemption. though they almost definitely will add at least one more starter-caliber player here even after the Roberts and White signings.