It’s hard to know what exactly went wrong with Devin White and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. White was one of the top prospects in the 2019 NFL Draft and was widely viewed as a future star at linebacker. And that was the case earlier in his career.
White was an impact player during the 2020 championship team and was a Pro Bowl selection the following year. But after the 2021 season, everything started to trend in the wrong direction for White. He started falling out of favor with the coaching staff and at the age of 25, the Buccaneers decided to move on. Since then, White has bounced around the league and has been on three teams since the start of the 2024 season.
Jason Licht wishes he never would have drafted White
It’s hard to believe that a general manager would ever regret making a pick that helped his team win a Super Bowl, but it happened. In a recent article by Dan Pompei of The Athletic, Licht was candid about his draft philosophies and admitted that he made a mistake regarding White in the 2019 draft:
"Knowing what I know now, he would have been off my board. It was too much about him."Jason Licht, Buccaneers GM
White requested a trade going into the 2023 season, but that wish wasn’t granted as the Buccaneers decided to keep him throughout the year. That might have been a mistake in hindsight given that he had his worst year of his career, but there also wasn’t much of a market for a high variance linebacker seeking a record-setting deal.
But White’s playstyle could also be viewed as selfish, at times. Rather than playing sound, fundamental football, White wanted to create splash plays. That often hurt Tampa Bay’s defense and his inability to be a consistent player really hurt the Buccaneers over the last few years.
It’s hard to blame Licht too much for the pick, considering White was the No. 5 overall player on the consensus big board, and he did have some incredible moments in Tampa Bay. But Licht has vowed to make high-character players a priority in the future, and that is why the selection of Emeka Egbuka made so much sense this year.
Meanwhile, White is trying to resurrect his career in Las Vegas under Pete Carroll. But with the Eagles and Texans both moving on from White after the 2024 season, those organizations also found out that the juice might not be worth the squeeze when it comes to this talented player.
General managers are going to miss on players in the draft. It happens. But you can bet that if Jason Licht and the Buccaneers are going to miss a player, they will do so on a team-first, high-character player, especially after what they just went through with White.