It appears that there may well potentially be a bit of a saga developing for National Football League franchise the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as it is being reported that Pro Bowl inside linebacker and 2019 first round draft pick, Devin White, has now officially requested a trade from the team.
ESPN reported on Tuesday that sources had contacted them to inform them of the news and a strong suggestion was made that the 25 year old former Louisiana State University talent has grown increasingly frustrated with life at the Raymond James Stadium and that he has now very much reached the point where he is ‘fed up’. ESPN’s original sources did not elaborate further on the specifics of his growing frustration, nor what the root cause was, however, an unrelated source to the story suggested that the origins lie in negotiations over a new contract.
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For those NFL fans in the US who like to have a little bit of a flutter, given how this story has now begun dominating Tampa Bay news feeds, punters can probably find very good odds available for the varying outcomes by checking out the list of the best apps for betting. Odds would be both high on a departure, as well as a compromise being made that sees the star stay exactly where he is.
After all, it is widely believed that the Buccaneers are not interested in trading him this year, or in the more foreseeable future as they have already picked up his $11.7 million fifth year option, but it seems that White expected there to be quicker progress in a new multiyear contract, as that was then the natural next step to make in terms of a longer term commitment.
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If this does become a saga now though, it has been one in the making for a while as Bucs fans will be well aware, around a month ago the linebacker took to Instagram to release a number of cryptic messages that included.
“4 year(s) went by fast” “thank ya” and “God isn’t asking you to figure it out. He’s asking you to trust that he already has.”
This was followed by a subsequent tweet, where he wrote “Reflecting on how fast my first four years went by, def a thanks to Bucs fans ‘good and mean ones lol’ The upside is scary.”
Having been very limited by recent financial constraints, the Buccaneers went into the 2023 free agency period more than $55 million over the salary cap – not least because of the hit their cap took on Tom Brady’s $35 million contract – and although they have made big moves to address that by cutting the likes of high profile left tackle Donovan Smith, running back Leonard Fournette, tight end Cam Brate and kicker Ryan Succop from the roster, that could only take them so far.
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They have also recently restructured the deals of several long term contracts at the club, namely involving getting agreement from wide receiver Chris Godwin, defensive tackle Vita Vea, cornerback Carlton Davis and center Ryan Jensen to take pay cuts.
Even then, the Bucs still had to part ways with White’s draft class colleagues, safety Mike Edwards and cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting, in free agency.
Having already secured counterpart linebacker, Lavonte David, to an additional one year contract, it simply remains to be seen if the Bucs leeway now sees White get the contract uplift he obviously feels he deserves.
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