The Buccaneers will pick up Devin White‘s fifth-year option (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero). With that, the linebacker is now set to make a fully-guaranteed $11.7MM in 2023.
[RELATED: Brady’s Contract Restructure Includes No-Tag Clause]
White, the No. 5 overall pick in 2019, was set to enter the final year of his four-year, $29.3MM rookie deal. There was no chance that the Bucs would let him get away after his Pro Bowl season. White notched 128 stops and 3.5 sacks, helping the Bucs finish as a top-five defense in points allowed.
White has been a starter throughout his career, dating back to his 91-tackle rookie campaign. All in all, he’s got 359 tackles, 15 sacks, four forced fumbles, six fumble recoveries, and one interception to his credit. Meanwhile, he just celebrated his 24th birthday in February. The Buccaneers will work to sign White to an even longer deal down the road. But, for now, they’ve got him locked in for another two seasons.
Teams have until May 2nd to exercise their options for 2019 first-round picks. Some decisions will be tough, now that the fifth-year option is fully-guaranteed rather than just guaranteed-for-injury. For Bucs GM Jason Licht, this one was a no-brainer.
STUD
Love that player. He’s everywhere on the field
Steelers got the wrong Devin in that draft, that is for certain.
Very true but it’s not as if they passed on White, he was long gone by the time they picked. They did trade up to get Bush if I remember right, but it would have cost them twice as much to trade up to Tampa’s spot. I seem to remember every pundit having White ranked ahead of Bush but not by much. And it’s not as if the Steelers were getting panned for reaching for Bush either… it just mostly hasn’t worked out.