Buccaneers HC Todd Bowles on LB Devin White: "We know we're not trading him"https://t.co/t9pMsD1WLE pic.twitter.com/zKctH2c3IJ
— Around The NFL (@AroundTheNFL) April 25, 2023
LB [autotag]Devin White[/autotag] may have requested a trade earlier in the offseason, but it doesn’t seem as if the Bucs are willing to grant his wish.
Head coach [autotag]Todd Bowles[/autotag] spoke at an Arians Family Foundation event in Tampa Bay on Monday and reiterated what GM Jason Licht has previously said about White — the team has no intention of dealing him in 2023.
“We got him onboard another year like Jason Licht said,” Bowles said as originally reported by the Tampa Bay Times’ Rick Stroud. “We discussed it. We know we’re not trading him and we’ll go from there. We know it’s the offseason right now so nothing counts and we’re expecting him to be there when the season starts.”
Bowles also said that he’s unsure if White will show up to voluntary offseason workouts and that he and his staff will “coach the guys that are here.”
White’s trade request certainly came at an awkward time, as the only way to maximize value from such a request would have been to find a trade partner willing to take on his $11 million cap hit before the NFL draft. Since that won’t happen, it makes sense for Tampa Bay to hold on to him, as the team would probably land a compensatory draft pick should he simply leave in free agency.
White’s plans will be revealed when mandatory minicamp begins after the draft — if he were to hold out then, he’d start receiving fines.
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