Buccaneers drama with Devin White will actually work out for the best
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are currently on one of their biggest hot streaks of the season. The quality of the opponents may not be great, but the Bucs are winning must-win games, and no one should be unhappy with those results. One of the most surprising parts of this stretch has been the success the […]
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are currently on one of their biggest hot streaks of the season. The quality of the opponents may not be great, but the Bucs are winning must-win games, and no one should be unhappy with those results.
One of the most surprising parts of this stretch has been the success the Bucs have experienced without longtime defensive starter and captain Devin White, and the decision (by someone) on Sunday to keep White on the inactive list could be the final move before a messy conclusion to the White saga in Tampa.
The good news for the Bucs? There might be some drama ahead with a messy breakup seeming like the only possible future, but this is absolutely the best thing that could happen to the Bucs.
Todd Bowles and the rest of the front office can keep trying to paper over it all they want; White not playing on Sunday was not something to simply ignore. Inactive without a reported injury tells a very clear story about where the player stands. K.J. Britt balling out and helping with a win completes the context of the situation.
Devin White isn't playing and the Buccaneers are winning. Devin White also wants to be one of the highest-paid linebackers in the NFL.
Even if the Bucs started this season warm to the idea that they could pay White come the end of this season, that idea has to be dead at this point with the drama only continuing to build.
You simply don't have to pay players like White in the modern NFL, and the decision to do so by the Bucs would hurt the team greatly in 2024.
With White apparently taking himself out of the running to get a new major contract (and a drain on Tampa's limited resources), the Bucs should have extra money to spend on other key free agents (Baker Mayfield and Antoine Winfield Jr.) that are criminally underpaid.
It may not be a great feeling to see a guy like White move on, but this was always going to be the best decision by the Buccaneers, and White making that decision for the team is about as easy as it gets.
Pressure mounts for the Buccaneers in Week 14
This is about as must-win as a game can get.
