While other teams spent the first few waves of free agency trying to outbid one another for available players, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were hard at work trying to bring their own guys back.
This means spending most of the money the team had on new deals for Baker Mayfield, Mike Evans, Lavonte David and others. There's also a chunk of change earmarked for Antoine Winfield Jr., who was a franchise tagged with the idea of extending the window of time the team had to hammer out a long-term deal.
Not everyone is coming back, though.
Perhaps the most notable name not returning is linebacker Devin White. After a disastrous season, White left to sign for roughly $90 million less than what he demanded from the Bucs last offseason. It didn't take long for White to start taking shots at the Bucs, doing so with some interesting comments in his first press conference with the Philadelphia Eagles.
That's a two way street, as it sure sounded like Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles sent some shots back at White while talking about how much he loves his new-look linebacker group.
It sure sounds like Todd Bowles took a shot at Devin White
Bowles was praising K.J. Britt, specifically, when it seemed he took some thinly veiled shots at White. He didn't call him out by name, but it wasn't hard to read between the lines.
Bowles today on LB K.J. Britt: "We're not running the 40. He's a football player. You've got to get around him to use your speed. K.J., what he lacks in two steps in the speed department, he makes up for being in the right place and understanding the game. You can play fast and…
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) March 26, 2024
It's worth noting that Britt was the player who replaced White in the starting lineup after he was benched in Week 15. That was the game against the Green Bay Packers where things went from bad to weird with White, as he was made a surprise inactive before kickoff despite seemingly being healthy.
Tampa Bay got into some hot water after Bowles gave a clunky explanation for what happened, but the main takeaway was that White had seemingly worn out his welcome. Not long after the incident it was reported that White had rubbed his coaches and teammates the wrong way with his attitude during the team's losing streak and he was never re-inserted into the starting lineup.
It was a sad way for his tenure with the Bucs to end, as he showed so much promise after being the No. 5 overall pick back in 2019. He helped the team win a Super Bowl and looked to be on a path that would one day see him take the torch from Lavonte David, but that never happened.
Instead, his play became horribly inconsistent over the last three seasons with things culminating in him asking for a trade after not getting a massive contract offer from the Bucs during negotations for an extension.
He apologized for that, due in large part to David's leadership, but the relationship was never fully healed. White has a chance to turn back into the player he once was, and the Bucs seem to have happily moved onto greener pastures.