Did Todd Bowles Indirectly Call Out Devin White?
June 7th, 2023
Has the staredown begun?
So the next time Joe and other members of the pen and mic club see the Bucs, it will be for three days next week.
That’s mandatory minicamp. Emphasis on the word “mandatory.”
Whenever Bucs coach Todd Bowles is asked about a Bucs player not being at OTAs, Bowles quickly makes it clear OTA attendance is voluntary.
Yesterday, briefly, Bowles spoke of next week’s minicamp. “It’s mandatory – I expect everybody to be here,” he said.
Before April’s NFL Draft, disgruntled Bucs linebacker Devin White demanded a trade because the Bucs won’t (yet) extend his contract. White hasn’t been seen at One Buc Palace since.
Bowles in the past few weeks was asked about White and OTAs a time or two. Bowles would quickly remind folks OTAs are voluntary.
So later in yesterday’s press conference after underwear football practice, Bowles was directly asked if he expects White to show up.
Bowles repeated his previous comment on minicamp.
“It’s mandatory – I expect everybody to be here.”
Notice there were no caveats or exceptions in Bowles’ words. He said he expects “everybody” to show up. And that includes White, unless he’s not on the roster for some reason by this time next week.
Was Bowles firing an indirect shot across the bow at White to get off his horsies and get his tail into One Buc Palace?
If so, then Joe will assume the staredown between the Bucs and White is officially on.
June 7th, 2023 at 4:27 am
White is becoming a distraction, will his attitude poison the rest eventually?
Trade him now, even if it is for a waterboy
June 7th, 2023 at 6:04 am
Players don’t often begrudge teammates because of their actions during financial haggling.
June 7th, 2023 at 6:25 am
Onetrickpony … Bucs can’t afford to trade away the middle of their defense without a suitable replacement, even if we got the world’s best waterboy in return. White’s position is critical to the effective functioning of this defense, as evidenced by White’s contributions for these past 4 years. He’s missed only 4 games (played in & started 62), and contributed 3972 defensive snaps.
He’s had 20.5 sacks (#2 behind Shaq’s 40.5 sacks in that period), 55 QB Hits, 35 TFLs, 483 tackles (315 solo), forced 6 fumbles & recovered 9 fumbles (scoring 2 TDs off of those). Those aren’t waterboy numbers, and whether we like his attitude or not, that represents an awful lot of production.
What’s missing in there is his biggest weakness: coverage. In those same 4 years, Devin’s been credited with only 15 PDs, and allowed a fairly high 79.9% completion rate over that timeframe. I’m sorry, but THAT part of his resume is not good, and not worth $20 mil a year. Part of it’s understandable given how much blitzing he’s called upon to do plus his responsibilities in run defense, but just as big a part is on White himself for getting caught out of position too often & not getting off blocks effectively sometimes.
In any event, he’ll be a Buc this year. And with a good year, may very well end up with a new contract to remain with us for the foreseeable future.
June 7th, 2023 at 6:33 am
They all understand it’s a business, coaches included.
White may not be a max contract linebacker, but he can still be a game wrecker on the edges and in the backfield blitzing. He’s under contract, so I still want him to play on more year here.
Unless he plays awful this year, they’ll likely offer him a long term contract after the season, but I think they’ll also let him go out and set his own market price in free agency.
June 7th, 2023 at 6:58 am
I didn’t like the pick then, not because he was a bad prospect but because the position doesn’t merit such a high pock and now it’s biting them in the rear. It’s time to move on and trade him.
June 7th, 2023 at 7:25 am
No doubt. Shot fired across the bow.
June 7th, 2023 at 8:13 am
White has no leverage…if he’s smart, he’ll show up
June 7th, 2023 at 8:57 am
It’s biting them in the rear because of the man not the player. The player is pretty good. The man thinks the player is great. If white wants to make some noise he should go the Roquan Smith route. Granted, Smith is a better player. But Smith showed up at all the mandatories and eventually got what he wanted. Slightly different situation here as I think white would prefer to stay but if he holds strong to his ridiculous rookie ambitions regarding pay, that may not happen unless he completely balls out this year.
June 7th, 2023 at 9:00 am
I wouldn’t mind seeing White traded, but only for good compensation. Not a ‘waterboy’. That’s letting emotion cloud your judgement.
The Bucs have all the leverage. He hasn’t warranted the contract he wants and no team will give it to him. He needs to play this season to earn it. Next offseason, if his contract demands are not in line with his production (similar mixed bag) tag him with the transition tag and let him try to find a taker (Bucs get two firsts if someone signs him or a right to match). Same angle the Ravens took with Lamar Jackson.
He’s a good player, just not nearly as good as he is thinks he is.
You don’t give away assets because he makes you mad.
June 7th, 2023 at 9:02 am
Defense Rules Says:
“Devin’s been credited with only 15 PDs, and allowed a fairly high 79.9% completion rate over that timeframe.”
.
.
Every QB in the NFL can boost his completion percentage by throwing at Diva.
June 7th, 2023 at 9:07 am
I don’t get the sense that White actually spends time studying opponents. Every offense just leads him around by the nose. If they want to get a back open in the flat, just send him toward White. They know he’ll abandon his responsibility hoping for a glamor sack. And he can’t scrape off of blockers to save his life. I’ve been extremely frustrated with his mediocrity and apparent unwillingness to improve his deficiencies.
June 7th, 2023 at 9:20 am
Defense Rules pretty much nailed it.
I’ll be glad when next week gets here, White shows up, and we can put an end to this nonsense.
He never demanded a trade, he that if they couldn’t work out a dead, that they should trade him. That is far, far from a demand.
So far as not being at OTAs, he’s not the only one…but we don’t see the others mentioned. It is well established that some veterans prefer their own training methods during early OTAs.
He’ll show up next week…and this season will be his best one yet.
As to people here wanting to trade him? Well, people like that wanted to trade Mike Evans after his second year. They were wrong then…and they are wrong now.
June 7th, 2023 at 9:22 am
“He never demanded a trade, he that if they couldn’t work out a dead, that they should trade him. That is far, far from a demand.”
Well, autocorrect really hacked that up. Should say
“He never demanded a trade, he suggested that if they couldn’t work out a deal, that they should trade him. That is far, far from a demand.”
June 7th, 2023 at 10:01 am
White should have already been traded. If there was any market value I think Licht would have already pulled the trigger. White continues to shoot himself in the foot. If this is on the advice of his agent Tory Dandy then he should be banned from representing any NFL player in the future.
June 7th, 2023 at 10:26 am
I was not a big fan of the pick either. It felt forced like the Hargreaves pick. Drafting for need instead of BPA
June 7th, 2023 at 10:33 am
white and a 4th for chase young. Do it.
June 7th, 2023 at 10:38 am
A Bucs Fan Says:
June 7th, 2023 at 10:33 am
white and a 4th for chase young. Do it.
June 7th, 2023 at 10:40 am
A Bucs Fan Says:
June 7th, 2023 at 10:33 am
white and a 4th for chase young. Do it.
——————
Do you know how pathetic Young has been the past two years? As bad as you may believe White to be… he’s still a milllion times better than Young… Young has exactly 1.5 sacks the past two seasons. Nine in his entire career. White doesn’t even play the same position and has had more sacks in a season as Young has had in his career.
June 7th, 2023 at 10:59 am
I don’t like his attitude but he’s produced quit well in sacks and stopping the run. Yes he over pursues and takes bad angles and he’s a liability in coverage but DEFENSE just put his stats up and those arnt bad numbers except in coverage. We don’t have his replacement. I hope he balls out this year in all areas coverage, stopping the run and getting sacks and gets closer to what kind of money he wants. Not going to lie he’s got the talent to be the very best just needs to get his head right and get better at pass coverage. If white balls out with our new guys we could seriously have the best defense in the league. Time will tell. Right now white is the Winston of the defense
June 7th, 2023 at 10:59 am
This guy is Good Not Great
Inflated ego
Bye Felicia
TRADE HIM
June 7th, 2023 at 11:02 am
Just trade him already. If he doesn’t show up I hope they fine the hell out of him. The fan base is already over him.
June 7th, 2023 at 11:22 am
Maybe try to Trade him for a solid lineman
June 7th, 2023 at 11:43 am
I think he was stating the obvious. The camp is mandatory. I think this would be the standard response from any coach. It’s not a shot at anyone. If you have a contract, you’re expected to appear. Devin White may have other ideas, but that’s not Bowles concern. White will be fined for every day he’s missing and he’s not getting a new contract.
June 7th, 2023 at 11:53 am
Trade him to Minnesota for Dalvin Cook.
June 7th, 2023 at 12:50 pm
Everyone who says “trade him” must think many other teams are clamoring for him. I doubt that, sincerely. I agree with BucBonzai that he never DEMANDED a trade. That was pundit take.
BTW, there is a free corrector called Grammarly. It works MUCH better than auto-correct and you can even pay for an expert mode, but I have been using the free version for years and it seems to be far superior to others.
June 7th, 2023 at 1:17 pm
REMEMBER GODWIN’S CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS
No you don’t. He never said a bad, disparaging, or negative word. He came to work. Delivered. They franchise tagged him and he got injured. When asked about his contract, he said everything is fine. Ended up landing a fat contract.
REMEMBER LVD or EVANS LAST CONTRACTS
No you don’t. Same as CG. Came to work. Delivered. Never a word. Fat contracts.
LVD, Evans, Godwin = Leaders
White = Selfish b**ch
Boot him off the team!
June 7th, 2023 at 1:21 pm
We’ll know real quick if Devin changes his tune and shows up next week if not sayonara sucker
June 7th, 2023 at 4:01 pm
One would also expect 45 to not overrun plays, loaf and/or be a liability in coverage…
June 7th, 2023 at 6:15 pm
He’s an average, actually below average in most critical areas…as I’ve been saying for a very long time….he’s the most overrated player in the NFL. Watch the game replays …please. His statistics are deceiving….his inability to tackle properly leads to yds after contact, he can’t cover anyone, can’t diagnose plays, instincts are nonexistent, loafs frequently, unable to shed blocks even from much smaller rbs, and last but not least, he’s obviously not a team player! 45 should have been traded much sooner but I suspect the return offers were not close to what they’d want to get. Also, stop comparing him to Roquan Smith…45 isn’t half the player!!!!
June 7th, 2023 at 8:29 pm
White is becoming a distraction because of the “anti-fans.”
June 8th, 2023 at 10:07 pm
Sly Pirate nailed it.