Thumbs up or down: Eagles beat reporters weigh in on the Devin White signing

The Eagles went into this offseason in desperate need of retooling their inside linebackers group. Not only did they get gashed far too often over the middle of the field last season with linebackers who struggled in coverage, but they got just one forced fumble, three fumble recoveries, nine pass breakups, and four sacks (no interceptions) from their inside linebackers. With Nicholas Morrow, Zach Cunningham, and Shaquille Leonard each becoming free agents at the start of the new league year, general manager Howie Roseman had an opportunity to infuse playmaking talent at the position.

Enter Devin White. The 26-year-old brings both draft pedigree and career accolades thanks to his speed and athleticism. He was the No. 5 overall pick in the 2019 draft out of LSU by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In his five years with the Bucs, the 6-foot, 237-pound White won a Super Bowl ring to cap the 2020 season, earned second-team All-Pro honors that year, then followed it up with a Pro Bowl nod in 2021.

That kind of experience can be valuable to a defense on track to get younger in 2024. His playmaking ability also ought to be coveted by new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. White has been effective on blitzes throughout his career, posting 23 sacks and 64 quarterback hits in 76 games. Last year, he had a pair of interceptions, which is more than the contributions of the entire 2023 Eagles inside linebacking corps combined.

» READ MORE: Super Bowl champion LB Devin White welcomes a ‘clean start’ with the Eagles after a tough finish in Tampa

But White was available for a reason, and there are legitimate reasons to be hesitant about this signing. White and the Bucs weren’t able to come to an agreement on an extension last offseason, much to his disappointment. He sustained a foot injury in Week 3 against the Eagles and struggled with consistency in his game afterward, eventually losing his starting job to K.J. Britt.

The Eagles are making an upside play by signing White to a reported one-year deal worth up to $7.5 million. While White’s cap number will likely come in well under that figure, it’s still a substantial investment at a position that Roseman doesn’t typically make. Despite White’s tumultuous year in Tampa in 2023, he’s worth taking a chance on given his young age and relatively uneventful injury history with the hope that Fangio can put him in a position to succeed.

Depending upon the viewpoint, the White signing is an upgrade over who the Eagles had at inside linebacker last season, or it’s just another in a line of cost-effective moves Roseman has made at the position over the last decade-plus. There’s gray area in the above statement, but White wasn’t exactly a marquee free agent this offseason. The pedigree is there, of course. The former fifth overall draft pick has accolades and championships on his resumé, and freakish athleticism the Eagles haven’t quite had at second level of their defense in years. But White lost some of his shine last year after an offseason contract dispute with the Bucs. They picked up his fifth-year option, but he wanted a long-term commitment that never came.

It seemed to affect his performance on the field and then he suffered a foot sprain, coincidentally, against the Eagles in Week 3. White said earlier this week that he struggled to regain his form after the injury. He still made the kinds of plus-plays that stood him out among the crowd in his first four seasons and finished the season with two interceptions, 2½ sacks and nine quarterback hits. But he wasn’t around the ball as much and his issues in run defense hindered Tampa more than normal.

White, in his career, has been best utilized as a blitzing linebacker who can cover in space. He had nine sacks in his second season. In his Pro Bowl third season he had 18 hits — 10 more than all the Eagles’ inside linebackers had last season. Of course, you have to blitz to give your off-ball guys a chance to get to the quarterback. Will Fangio, who doesn’t necessarily love to send extra rushers, give White freedom to do one of the things he does best?

» READ MORE: Eagles’ Howie Roseman defends his team-building philosophy at linebacker and has belief in Nakobe Dean

White’s on the smaller side at 6-foot, 237 pounds. He needs a defensive line to eat up blockers in the run game, otherwise he can have problems getting off blocks. The Eagles have the big boys up front to handle that job, but Fangio doesn’t employ a two-gap system. White will presumably start alongside middle linebacker Nakobe Dean, who is expected to be ready by Week 1. But he could just as easily wear the green dot. He’s only 26 and should still have the legs to run near the 4.42 40-yard dash speed that wowed NFL scouts five years ago. The Eagles need dogs on their defense, and with the addition of safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson and White, they have a couple candidates.

But I have concerns about White’s fit in the scheme. Roseman had to do something at linebacker. Cunningham actually played solidly when in the lineup. His return might have made sense. But the rest of the group was lacking. White will theoretically be an upgrade. But theory isn’t fact.

It’s true that the Eagles’ linebacking corps will improve considerably with White now in the fold, but that isn’t saying all that much.

The former No. 5 overall pick has intriguing physical traits and showcased playmaking ability in his first five seasons, but his lack of consistency and apparent regression last year led to the Bucs letting him walk in free agency this offseason.

Fangio is one of the league’s best defensive coordinators and could certainly get the most out of White, but it’s only fair to point out Todd Bowles, also one of the best defensive play-callers in the NFL, deployed White as a blitzer more than the type of cover linebacker the Eagles so desperately lacked for most of last season.

White’s athleticism gives him a chance to occupy a new role successfully, but his past utilization and up-and-down career to this point make it more of a projection for a position group already dealing with uncertainty with Dean penciled in for one of the starting roles after hardly playing the last two seasons.

White was a highly-touted prospect because of his speed and explosiveness, each of which should help him stick with tight ends and running backs in coverage, but he gave up a dubious 11.1 yards per reception when targeted last season according to Pro Football Focus. He wasn’t much better the year before when he was healthier, allowing 10.6 yards per reception, which ranked 74th out of 90 qualifying linebackers in 2022.

After the Eagles missed out on the first wave of free-agent linebacker signings, White was among the best available for them at the position. He’s got the pedigree and talent level to turn his career around and perhaps he will, but this move still leaves the linebacker position as an unknown quantity at this point in the offseason with options dwindling.