Devin White Is Not Roquan Smith
April 12th, 2023
Believes Devin White is elite.
Joe’s getting tired of folks comparing unhappy Bucs linebacker Devin White with Baltimore stud linebacker Roquan Smith.
Both played in the SEC and both are off-the-ball linebackers. That’s where the similarities end.
Folks think White is being dissed by the Bucs because he wants the same cash Smith got. The Crows paid Smith a five-year, $100 million pact because he is one of the game’s best.
Joe isn’t sure White is the Bucs’ best linebacker.
This constant comparison to Smith irks Joe. Maybe Joe missed it, but when Smith played for the Bears, did anyone read or hear of Dan Hampton taking to Instagram and calling out Smith for loafing?
Warren Sapp did that to White last year. When is the last time a guy who got called out for dogging it (in a tie game!) ran to the bank with $100 million? Please!
Yesterday, fellow LSU product Marcus Spears, who works for BSPN these days, said on NFL Live that all inside linebackers are chasing Smith’s coin because Smith is the standard.
And yes, Spears said, White is Smith’s equal.
“Follow the money,” Spears said. “[Smith] is the litmus test. A guy that has played at a very high level. Has been very productive within his organization.
“Usually these things look identical and in this regard, I believe they are very identical. Look, Devin White won a Super Bowl. He was integral on the road to winning that Super Bowl.”
The thing is, the Bucs — nor any other team — will pay White for what he did in January and February of 2021. They are paying him for what he will bring to the field in 2024 and beyond.
Is Jason Pierre-Paul getting a raise for what he did that winter? Playoff Lenny? Cam Brate? Antonio Brown?
And the past two seasons, White is not the guy who played lights out in the 2020 playoffs. That’s all you need to know.
If White played for a stretch of games last year or in 2021 like he did in the 2020 postseason, Joe doesn’t think Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht would blink an eye paying him Smith money. But White hasn’t played at the same level of his 2020 playoff performance since. Two years later, Bucs fans are waiting for that linebacker to reappear.
Could White have not played to his 2020 playoffs level because Bucs coach Todd Bowles is using him differently? Well, that is a whole other story.
1000000% inexcusable effort from #GoBucs LB Devin White on this play:
(📽️: @josh_queipo) pic.twitter.com/yM1J76qxkT— Evan Winter (@evan_AtoZ) October 28, 2022
April 12th, 2023 at 4:48 am
Bye Felicia…
April 12th, 2023 at 4:55 am
483 tackles, 20.5 sacks, 6 forced fumbles, and a pro bowl in 4 years sounds not to shabby to this poster. Then again, what do I know?
April 12th, 2023 at 5:26 am
He’s upset because Dean got paid and he knows he’s behind Winfield and Wirfs. If you are third in the list of guys getting paid uh yea you should get paid 100 mil. That’s reality White, if you had the stones you’d ball out in 2023 to up your value.
There’s difference between having the biggest mouth and being a leader. A leader you are not sir. Leaders with talent get paid and they said part is it happened to Lavonte but you can’t see it
April 12th, 2023 at 5:41 am
Just what Bucs needed going into the draft, a contract squabble thanks Devin!
April 12th, 2023 at 5:41 am
He’s high energy, extremely fast and almost always trailing. He’s late to pick up the play. How many balls has he picked. You do that occasionally when you recognize a play and jump the route.
I acknowledge that he’s a good solid linebacker, he will have a good career but that’s all I see. Sorry but not everyone on a team can get $100M contracts.
April 12th, 2023 at 5:42 am
Sure would like to know what he was offered 🤔
Was it THAT kind of an insult or did he expect to exceed 20 Million a year? 20 million dollars per year….. You are literally hitting the lottery every single year AND you only have to work for it what, for 6 months? Now THAT’S Great work if you can get it. But that’s the point is it not? He hasn’t been “getting it”.
Even with really good numbers and above average stats, he hasn’t excelled. He hasn’t Risen above. He’s shown less hart in his play and not more. If his play mirrored his desire to make 100 million then I doubt anyone would question him making 100 mil if not even more…
He HAS TO Earn It! HE IS NOT ENTITLED TO IT “JUST BECAUSE”…. WRONG ATTITUDE! And a STRONG message was sent! NO TEAM IS GOING TO JUST PONY UP 20 MILLION PLUS with the way he’s been playing for the last 2 years! That’s SUPER STAR money, especially in the position he plays. It IS NOT a premium position. Important, O YES! Critical? Not exactly……
April 12th, 2023 at 5:46 am
He’s a bum; that said, please trade him for whatever you can get
April 12th, 2023 at 5:52 am
Not only the loafs…
He often takes bad angles; he has no natural instincts for the position. And when he does make a TFL it’s usually on a blitz called by Bowles…His blown assignment on the goal line against the Rams in the NFC championship was a big reason we lost the game… LaVonte even at his current age is still a better LB imho; trade White while he still has value and draft his replacement…
April 12th, 2023 at 6:04 am
I m not saying he s a bum or a bad player and i m not saying the Bucs should give him the money he wants or they should trade him. Thats up to the Bucs.
The truth is he took a step back since 2020 and his playoff performances. We took a look of how good he could be but we have not seen it again in the same level. Potential and abilities are nice but you have to show it on the field every game. Otherwise you are not elite.
If he was playing the last couple of years like the 2020 playoffs i would say pay the man what he wants. But he has not and that is the truth. He is a good player but not elite.
The market is the market and the Bucs will decide what they want to do.
April 12th, 2023 at 6:10 am
First Smith got his contract after putting in the work for 5 years. Devin needs to do the same. While he’s at it, he needs to improve on pass defense and haul in some INT’s to compare himself to Smith. Another area of concern is white has missed 54 tackles in the last four years compared to Smith’s 28. I would guess that White could got at least 6 more sacks if he had broke down and finished tackles on QB’s and not allowed QB’s to get by him.
April 12th, 2023 at 6:12 am
The bigger thing going on is Devin White probably has lost some faith in Todd Bowles. That’s just a hunch, but he probably feels he’d be putting up Roquan numbers in a scheme that suits him. Well, that’s just too bad, cuz you’re still on your rookie contract and if you think Bowles is the problem, then let this season play out and maybe Bowles will be gone at the end of the season. Everyone knows the Bucs are strapped for 100M kinda money for one player.
Jason Licht is a product of the Patriots way, he will not acquiesce to these demands to over pay for Devin White. White is not at the 100M level. And I would be hard-pressed to find another team to pay him that kind of money with his most recent film.
Devin will play here or play for a middling prove-it contract somewhere else hoping to exact vengeance and get paid. Buyer beware, once primadonnas get paid, they tend to……loaf.
April 12th, 2023 at 6:13 am
The play that sticks out in my mind is the one against the Niners, when he could’ve pushed Deebo Samuel out of bounds near the goal line, but for some reason chose not to. That, and the many other times that it looks like he doesn’t know what he’s doing.
April 12th, 2023 at 6:17 am
Time to say goodbye. Grant his wish. Get as much as you can for him.
April 12th, 2023 at 6:20 am
Well said Joe! Enough of hyping a player that is living off a 3 game stretch… let that sink in: THREE GAMES OUT OF 4 YEARS!!! That is all he showed of greatness
April 12th, 2023 at 6:20 am
Get a first rounder and draft a stud replacement!
April 12th, 2023 at 6:36 am
Devin is not going anywhere and he will play out his contract as a Buc. He will have a helluva season and put the ball in Lichts court. He will probably be franchised, while Wirfs and and Winfield get extended. Why, because the Bucs will have a QB on a rookie contract. Mark the tape.
April 12th, 2023 at 6:46 am
Real question is who would want him, and what are they willing to give up? Just like Lamar Jackson, White might not be worth what he thinks he is. Will the Bucs grant his agent, at least he has one,find a trade partner? I think the Bucs should shop him.
April 12th, 2023 at 6:48 am
Todd, I agree on trading him and drafting a replacement but remember a couple of things: the Bucs have greater needs than replacing White: namely an OT (preferably LT) and an edge rusher since Logan Hall and JTS could be busts and additionally; White will not get the Bucs a day one pick. Given his tape and his demanding the trade, the Bucs will be lucky to get a day 2 pick for him. Perhaps that pick could land the Bucs a replacement but no way they get a first rounder for a guy who has shown little in the past couple of seasons besides loafing and running his pie-hole.
It is too bad because after the Superbowl run he looked like he could have been an elite player. He has shown flashes since then but for each great day like against the Seahawks in Munich or in a couple of games early last season against Dallas and the Aints he has had bad days like those vs the Niners and the Ravens where he was accused of loafing…..
April 12th, 2023 at 6:49 am
I wouldn’t pay him that kind of money. Hell no. Trade him.
April 12th, 2023 at 7:03 am
I wonder why Green Bay fans didn’t disrespect Aaron Rodgers for wanting to leave his team like you savages are doing Devin White 🤔
April 12th, 2023 at 7:14 am
Bucs say they have no intention of trading him. They should stick to their guns.
April 12th, 2023 at 7:37 am
@Jack
You might want to revisit some of the comments coming out of GB re: Rodgers
April 12th, 2023 at 7:38 am
Jack Clark Says:
April 12th, 2023 at 7:03 am
I wonder why Green Bay fans didn’t disrespect Aaron Rodgers for wanting to leave his team like you savages are doing Devin White 🤔
^^^^^^^^
Disrespect, how? By telling the truth?
April 12th, 2023 at 7:41 am
I can only imagine the chatter internally amongst the Bucs players and coaches.
April 12th, 2023 at 7:57 am
My very favorite part of the play Joe posts here is when three (3!) defensive linemen pass him!? They’re not moving all that fast either! Maybe White was weighed-down by the weight of the undeserved “C” on his chest.
April 12th, 2023 at 8:34 am
White mouth > White production.
Buy the dude for what he’s worth, and sell him for what he *thinks* he is worth. Glazers make bazillion.
White is an OK player with an occasional flash. Top-tier LB? Not even on the Bucs…
April 12th, 2023 at 8:35 am
LOL at Jack Clark for comparing Aaron Rogers to Devin White.
Diamonds vs. Asphalt…
April 12th, 2023 at 8:53 am
That’s the EFFORT PLAY you chose for White? He’s put up way stinkier tape than that. How about him standing there letting guards engage him and shove him back into the front row on multiple running play? His effort against the Lions in 2021 was pathetic. Let him cry and whine about a trade… if nobody wants to make a deal for him, and I don’t know why they would because if he’s as good as he thinks he is then we can get a 1st or 2nd round pick for him, but we can’t…he can either play or sit. I haven’t been impressed with him since the beginning of 2021.
April 12th, 2023 at 9:09 am
You know, you may be onto something.
In the past, Devin White has been guilty of freelancing. Todd Bowles had to rein him in. Perhaps White is tired of being corraled.
(Yeah, enough of the horse-related puns. 🙂 )
April 12th, 2023 at 9:53 am
Diva White makes me puke.
April 12th, 2023 at 9:55 am
ROQUAN SMITH
If a few teams believe White is on par with Smith, that is great news for the Bucs.
April 12th, 2023 at 10:06 am
LOL Jason and the Patriot way?
Belechick would already have given him a bus ticket out of town!
April 12th, 2023 at 10:57 am
We are seeing a difference here between a real leader and teammate Lavonte David and a fraud Devin White. I bet LVD is steaming about this, he took less than his market value and he is still a better player than Devin.
April 12th, 2023 at 3:10 pm
JOE I agree with everything you said. Just sucks cause DW45 has all the abilities you want in a ILB. Personally I just don’t think he has the high IQ of the great ray Lewis n DB55. 2020 I thought was a glimpse of what he would do every game but honestly he’s to inconsistent. Maybe it bowels fault maybe it DW45 who knows but his play doesn’t back up all the talking he does
April 12th, 2023 at 5:35 pm
White has the skills he just doesn’t have any heart.
April 12th, 2023 at 11:39 pm
Someone is going to overpay for DW in free agency and it doesn’t have to be the Bucs. Devin White makes splash plays, but he doesn’t make solid plays snap in and snap out.