What Devin White’s release says about the Eagles linebackers room

The metaphor Devin White used to describe his arrival in Philadelphia also explained the linebacker’s eventual departure.

“I’m a seed again,” said White, fresh off the practice field near the start of training camp. “And I’ve just been getting watered by everybody.”

The seed never sprouted. The Eagles released White on Tuesday. The reasoning was simple: The franchise never fielded the former first-rounder who’d signed with the intention to play. Their agreement was simple, too. By being released before the Nov. 5 trade deadline, White is not subject to waivers. He can sign with any team and pursue the role that never materialized in Philadelphia. To be released, White agreed to terms that can provide the Eagles financial savings from the one-year, $4 million deal he signed.

The cleanliness of their cleaving doesn’t leave the linebacker room in any stronger shape. This was a group that was overdue for some gardening. White was the headliner of the offseason overhaul. Now, the unit is at the very least deprived of its most experienced source of depth. An Eagles defense that’s surrendering the NFL’s fourth-most yards per rush (5.0) and pressuring quarterbacks at the fourth-lowest rate (15.9 percent) also never fully tested the viability of a pedigree prospect who was seeking a fresh start in a new system.

After training camp, the Eagles stopped watering White. He’d taken the majority of first-team snaps in practice. He’d started in both preseason games of consequence. But after White tweaked his ankle before the Sao Paulo season opener, after Nakobe Dean started in White’s place, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio definitively named Dean the Week 2 starter regardless of whether White would be healthy.

“I just think from the start of training camp to the end, he won the job,” Fangio said then.

That surprised White. Still, he told reporters that he was prepared to “stay ready for what’s asked of me.” Fangio insisted White was “still a part of it and will be a part of it.” But coach Nick Sirianni’s addition that the Eagles were “going to need him this year” because “it’s a long football season” made it clear White would only see the field in the event of an injury. White never appeared on special teams with the Eagles, was listed inactive for all four games and didn’t travel to Tampa Bay officially due to a “personal matter.”

White’s departure will ultimately test the other decisions the Eagles made. After failing to adequately replace T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White during the 2023 offseason — cheaply signed journeymen Nicholas Morrow and Zach Cunningham became on-field liabilities, and post-back surgery Shaquille Leonard, a midseason addition, is no longer in the league — Roseman needed to better address the linebacker corps. The Eagles signed White, Zack Baun, Oren Burks and traded up to spend a fifth-round pick on Jeremiah Trotter Jr.

The reset was still inexpensive. The Eagles rank second-to-last in the NFL in linebacker spending ($7.6 million), according to Over the Cap. That’s aligned with their front office’s apparent strategy to invest savings at linebacker in other positions. The organization just altered the way it gambled. They took a flier on White, who’d been benched in his fifth year under defensive-minded Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles. They accepted an experiment with Baun, who’d primarily been a pass rusher for the New Orleans Saints. They tossed the crapshoot of a Day 3 pick at Trotter.

Baun blossoming into a formidable member of Fangio’s defense somewhat justifies the Eagles front office’s approach. Baun’s sudden fit in the lineup also has plenty to do with why there was no room in it for White. Dean, drafted in 2022, has long been considered the position group’s future. His season-ending foot surgery in 2023 raised questions of whether he’d be reliable. But Roseman renewed his public belief in Dean, saying at the start of training camp that “we are really excited about him” and “have tremendous confidence in Nakobe.”

It’s reasonable to suggest the Eagles would’ve welcomed a scenario in which White unseated Dean, but it’s unclear why (or if) they’d believed a one-time Pro Bowler seeking to revamp his career would’ve resigned himself to a season-long role as Dean’s insurance policy.

White’s history suggested otherwise. According to the Tampa Bay Times, White told the Buccaneers he “couldn’t go” in a Week 15 game against the Green Bay Packers due to discomfort in his foot but Bowles had planned on starting K.J. Britt anyway. Paired with an NFL Network report that White’s being sidelined wasn’t injury related, it appeared White wasn’t willing to play from the bench. (White started in the final two regular season games and played 40 snaps as a backup in two playoff games).

But the saga didn’t dissuade Roseman. White said the experience actually helped him connect with the general manager. White told The Pivot Podcast in August that Roseman was “the only GM that wanted me, that FaceTimed me to talk to me like a man.” White said Roseman referenced how he was temporarily demoted in 2015 when Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie empowered former coach Chip Kelly.

“He said, ‘Bro, I was once in your position before and I was the GM here and you wouldn’t even know it because I had a downfall, and I had to work my way back up,’” White said in the podcast. “He said, ‘You’re in that same position.’ I feel like that was God. Like, we got the same mentality, right? Like, that’s what I’m going through right now. I was just high up. Now, I’m down, and now I got to come back up again.”

Their common ground didn’t preclude White and the Eagles from parting ways. White is a proverbial seed again in search of a place in which he’ll feel he has the opportunity to grow. How quickly White is signed will be notable, along with his subsequent production with what would be his third team. Meanwhile, the Eagles, who never fielded White — even within a reduced role or specific on-field package — remain committed to a corps that hinges on the availability and proficiency of Dean and Baun.

Have the Eagles settled on starters who’ll finally bring stability to the position?

Or will the Eagles be undergoing yet another reset in 2025?

(Top photo of Devin White: Mark Stockwell / AP Photo)