Why Is Devin White a Free Agent Right Now? Are We Crazy? Let's Argue Both Sides.

Alright, pour one out, because we need to talk about a former 5th overall pick sitting by the phone right now waiting for somebody — anybody — to call. Devin White just wrapped a season where he played all 17 games for the Las Vegas Raiders, racked up video-game tackle numbers, and is still out there hunting for his fifth team in four seasons. Fifth team! In four years! For a guy who made a Pro Bowl! Something doesn’t add up, and I need you to sit down while we sort it out — because both sides of this argument are backed by real numbers pulled straight from our own database, and both sides are right, and that is the single most annoying kind of debate there is.

The Case For: The Man Is a Tackling Machine

Let’s start with the number that should stop this whole conversation cold: 174 tackles. That’s third among every linebacker in football with at least half a season of tape, behind only Jordyn Brooks (183) and Jack Campbell (176). You know who’s sitting behind him on that list? Bobby Wagner. Bobby Wagner! A future Hall of Famer, and Devin White out-tackled him by a dozen stops. Throw in 11 tackles for loss — 11th-best in the league — and you’ve got a guy who’s in on practically every snap, blowing up the backfield, for all 17 games. Not 14 with a couple of “rest” weeks sprinkled in. Seventeen. The man does not come off the field.

You don’t rack up 174 tackles by accident. You do it by being the best pure run-and-chase linebacker most teams will see all year.

The Case Against: Where’s the Splash?

Now here’s where it gets complicated, and where our own numbers start arguing with themselves. That same guy who’s elite-of-the-elite in raw tackles is nowhere near it anywhere else on the stat sheet.

That’s not a guy who’s bad at football. It’s a guy who’s other-worldly at one specific job — showing up after the ball’s already in play and finishing the tackle — and just ordinary at everything that requires him to prevent the play before it happens. And that gap lines up exactly with the scouting knock that’s followed him out of Tampa and through three more stops: outside reporting has him allowing a passer rating north of 94 in coverage in his most recent full season, with multiple touchdowns given up in his own zone — the kind of damage that never shows up in a tackle column, because by the time White’s making the tackle, six points are already on the board.

Tackling the guy after he’s already caught the ball isn’t the same as stopping the catch.

So… Are We Crazy? Here’s the Verdict

No, we’re not crazy for asking, and the answer is the deeply unsatisfying kind: both arguments are correct at the exact same time. Devin White is one of the best pure tacklers in professional football. He is also exactly the kind of coverage question mark that keeps a front office from writing a real second contract. In a league where offenses are throwing the ball more than ever and asking linebackers to cover backs and tight ends one-on-one, a guy who’s elite at half the job and merely average at the other half is precisely the profile that gets a string of one-year “prove it” deals instead of a big signing-bonus check — which is exactly why a former Pro Bowler with a 174-tackle season on his resume is still sitting in free agency hunting for team number five.

Somebody’s going to sign him cheap, get an absurd tackle total on Sundays, and quietly live with the coverage snaps. That team is getting a bargain either way — they’re just also getting exactly what our database says they’re getting, not a mystery box.

Fight me on this one. Actually — don’t. I’ve got the tackle stats to prove I’d win the argument by a landslide, and the coverage stats to admit I’d probably still get beat by a tight end on 3rd-and-6.

All 2025 stats verified against official game logs for every linebacker with at least 9 games played. check every linebacker's full 2025 numbers on AiOdds.io. Gamble responsibly, 21+ only.