Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Devin White is signing a one-year deal worth up to $7.5 million with the Philadelphia Eagles, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter.
The Eagles are hoping White will provide a boost to a linebacker corps that struggled in 2023 and was frequently targeted by opposing offenses. He is projected to start alongside Nakobe Dean, who missed 12 regular-season games with foot injuries. With Dean sidelined for much of the year, the linebacker spot turned into a rotating cast, with veteran Zach Cunningham being the closest thing to a constant. Cunningham is currently a free agent.
Speed in the back end was an issue for the Eagles' defense, which finished 30th in points allowed (25.2 per game). White has 4.4-second speed in the 40 and can use it to get in the backfield, as evidenced by his 23 career sacks and 40 tackles for loss.
Frustrated by not getting a new contract last offseason, White requested a trade but instead played under the fifth-year option. He struggled with foot and groin injuries throughout the 2023 season and was replaced by K.J. Britt as the Buccaneers fought for a playoff berth. The two rotated in the postseason, with White playing 37 defensive snaps in two games.
White, 26, showed what he is capable of with an interception of Trevor Lawrence that keyed a 30-12 rout of the Jacksonville Jaguars on Christmas Eve. Playmaking has never been the issue for White, however -- instead, it has been consistency, as he has been caught out of position multiples times. He surrendered an opening-drive touchdown to Najee Harris in the flat while playing the Pittsburgh Steelers and gave up a costly TD to Christian McCaffrey while playing the San Francisco 49ers last season.
The Bucs' fifth overall pick out of LSU in the 2019 NFL draft, White had his breakout season the following year, leading the Bucs with 140 combined tackles (97 solo) during the regular season, with 9 sacks, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and 4 passes defended. Despite missing the wild-card round playoff game because of COVID-19, White led the Bucs with 38 combined postseason tackles (27 solo), 2 fumble recoveries and 2 interceptions, including a pick-six of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes in Super Bowl LV.
White has six career multi-sack games, including three-sack efforts against the Las Vegas Raiders and Atlanta Falcons in 2020. One of his most memorable performances came in the Bucs' 21-16 victory over the Seattle Seahawks in Munich in 2022. White registered two sacks and a forced fumble of quarterback Geno Smith just days after his father, Carlos Thomas, died at age 45.
He has 364 tackles, 23 sacks, 6 forced fumbles and 3 interceptions in 76 career games.
ESPN's Jenna Laine and Tim McManus contributed to this report.