Pro Bowl linebacker Devin White has reportedly requested a trade from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
This has been an offseason of plot twists for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but the latest one is perhaps the most devastating.
According to ESPN, Pro Bowl linebacker Devin White has reportedly requested a trade.
The request comes after a weird offseason for White in which he posted some cryptic messages to Instagram before pretending like they didn’t mean what everyone thought they did.
This news also comes on the heels of contract extension talks reportedly breaking down, convincing White that he doesn’t have a future in Tampa Bay.
Two sources have told me that Bucs inside linebacker Devin White has requested a trade. Story coming.
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) April 11, 2023
It’s a tough break for the Buccaneers, who had been otherwise crushing an offseason that many expected them to regress in. The retirement of Tom Brady spurred the exit of Leonard Fournette, Cameron Brate, and a few other long time Bucs the team couldn’t afford to bring back.
Brady left a $35 dead cap hit upon filing his retirement papers, which the front office needed to navigate around in addition to a $55 million salary cap knot that needed to be untangled.
Despite this, the Bucs managed to bring back Jamel Dean and Lavonte David in addition to adding Baker Mayfield. All of that seemed to indicate the offseason had been remarkably salvaged.
White requesting a trade doesn’t undo any of that, the reality of the situation is that one of Tampa Bay’s best players wants out.
It was speculated earlier in the offseason that White might be trade bait around the NFL Draft, but the idea seemed a little ridiculous at the time.
Now, not so much.
With the draft just a few weeks away, White might be doing the team a solid by putting in his request with enough time for the team to get a decent trade package in return.