John Romano: Can we at least agree Devin White is Tampa Bay's favorite mistake?

John Romano, Tampa Bay Times on Aug 16, 2025

Published in Football

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TAMPA, Fla. — As mea culpas go, this one doesn’t require a new inscription on the Lombardi Trophy.

In case you missed it this week, Jason Licht basically acknowledged that a critical first-round draft pick by the Buccaneers was a mistake.

The Tampa Bay general manager told a reporter from The Athletic that he never would have drafted Devin White if he had known at the time — and this is only a slight paraphrase — how self-centered the linebacker was. It was a pretty startling admission considering that the No. 5 selection in 2019 has been the highest pick the Bucs have had in the last 10 drafts.

But was it really a mistake?

I mean, I appreciate Licht’s willingness to fall on the sword, but how calamitous could the pick have been considering the Bucs won a Super Bowl 21 months later?

Yes, White quickly fell out of favor in Tampa Bay. Yes, he had an inflated sense of value. Yes, he turned out to be a somewhat selfish teammate. Yes, you would hope a No. 5 pick sticks around longer than five seasons.

But should I mention the Bucs’ Super Bowl ring has 15 carats worth of diamonds?

Just to be clear, I’m not suggesting a Super Bowl is worth any manner of sin. For instance, Antonio Brown-level foolishness? Too much. But Devin White-level ego? It served its purpose.

You’ve got to remember, White was an absolute terror in those 2020 playoffs. He intercepted two passes, recovered two fumbles, played every snap on defense against the Saints, Packers and Chiefs, and led the NFL in postseason tackles, despite missing the Washington game in the wild-card round after testing positive for COVID.

Back then, it was all about speed for White. Whatever flaws he had in pass coverage and whatever mistakes he made in assignments, White could usually overcome them by running down ballcarriers from sideline to sideline.

It’s not an exaggeration to say the Bucs might not have reached the Super Bowl if not for White. He led the team in tackles and tackles for loss in the regular season, and he was second in sacks. When the Bucs were trailing New Orleans 20-13 in a division-round game, White’s fumble recovery set up the tying touchdown. And when the Saints were driving late in the game, White’s interception and 18-yard return sealed the 30-20 victory.

Of course, afterward White called himself the image of Tampa Bay’s defense. Also, the heart and soul. In retrospect, that could be viewed as a preview of bluster to come, but at the time it was easy to dismiss as the exuberance of a 22-year-old.

White went on to lead the Bucs in tackles again in 2021 and made the Pro Bowl, but the pinnacle of his career was already in the past. And he was too self-absorbed to realize it. The moment age, aches and pains took a half-step away from his speed, the lack of technical precision made White look like an ordinary linebacker.

Because his departure from Tampa Bay turned out somewhat messy — including White’s petulance over reduced playing time — he is often viewed in a villainous way. That’s a shame, for both White and Bucs fans.

Think of it this way:

Did anyone really enjoy the 2022 season when Tom Brady was going through his divorce and was so immobile in the pocket that the passing game suffered? In retrospect, his ambition was greater than his ability at that point in his career. Yet you rarely hear anyone hold that against Brady.

Instead, we celebrate the idea he came to Tampa Bay and was a crucial — if not indispensable — component in a magical Super Bowl run.

The same could be said of Devin White. No matter how the end arrived, the first chapters of his story in Tampa Bay were whimsical. He was a likable kid and, for a short time, a whirlwind on the field. The Super Bowl was not his alone, but he played an outsized role in the journey.

On the day he was chosen in that long-ago draft, I wrote that picking White was likely a mistake. My argument was that White might have been a fine player but that an inside linebacker was not as valuable as an edge rusher. At that time, the Bucs needed difference-makers on defense and not a guy who would rack up a bunch of tackles downfield.

Turns out, I was wrong about the pick being a mistake in 2019.

And Jason Licht is wrong about it being a mistake in 2025.

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