Gone before ever playing a regular season snap for Philadelphia.
The Philadelphia Eagles released veteran linebacker Devin White on Tuesday afternoon, according to an official team announcement.
In true news dump fashion, this move was made just about thirty minutes before the Philadelphia Phillies begin a big Game 3 playoff game against the New York Mets.
The Eagles originally signed White to a one-year contract worth up to $4.5 million with $3.5 million guaranteed back in March. He projected as a Week 1 starter, taking nearly all of the first first-team linebacker reps during 11-on-11 sessions in offseason practices.
But then things started to get a little weird. White was unexpectedly added to the Eagles’ injury report ahead of Week 1 and did not travel with the team to Brazil. It was then reported that White got beat out by Nakobe Dean, which was not obviously apparent to everyone.
White then spent the Eagles’ next two games as a healthy scratch. He was downgraded to out in Week 4 due to personal reasons.
During the Eagles’ game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, White retweeted a tweet celebrating Lavonte David’s strip-sack on Jalen Hurts. He quickly claimed he meant to “like” the tweet instead of retweeting it.
With White not contributing to the Eagles at all (other than serving as depth), the team decided to move on. Apparently the two sides worked out a deal where the Birds can get some financial relief if another team signs him (guessing offset language):
My understanding is the Eagles and Devin White made a deal: the team would release him now (instead of after the trade deadline when he’d be subjected to waivers). And White agreed to terms that could provide the Eagles possible financial relief.
— Tim McManus (@Tim_McManus) October 8, 2024
Better than cutting him with no relief but it’s clear White fell way short of the expectations the Eagles had when they originally signed him. Of course, Howie Roseman just does not have a very good track record when it comes to free agent linebacker additions.
It’ll be interesting to see where White lands.
As for how the Eagles move forward, Dean and Zack Baun figure to remain the starters. The depth options behind them are Oren Burks, Ben VanSumeren, and Jeremiah Trotter Jr.
White’s dismissal opens a roster spot for Sydney Brown or Ainias Smith (guessing Brown is likely to return sooner) with the Eagles opening their 21-day practice windows on Monday.
