Devin White joins Lions to chase "the greatest feeling in the world"

Dan Campbell has been a fan of Devin White for a while, going back to their days in the NFC South. Campbell was assistant head coach of the Saints when White, the fifth overall pick in 2019, helped lead the Buccaneers to the Super Bowl in his second NFL season. So when White was available this offseason and the Lions had a need at linebacker, the two sides were quickly in contact.

Coming off a resurgent season with the Raiders, White just wasn't in a rush to make a decision.

"We talked early in free agency and we wanted to revisit, so it’s always been on the shelf," White said Sunday after his first practice in Detroit.

White and the Lions agreed to a one-year deal on Saturday, the day after Detroit lost rookie linebacker Jimmy Rolder to a leg injury that will knock him out for a while.

Rolder was off to a strong start in camp. The Lions still "see him contributing at some point" this season, defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard said Sunday, but White will maintain the depth in the middle of the defense, challenge Malcolm Rodriguez for snaps and push starters Jack Campbell and Derrick Barnes. He'll also bring a winning track record to a team trying to get over the hump.

"It just backs up everything Dan spoke of this offseason that we are going to find the best 90 to come in here and compete," Sheppard said. "It's all about competition. We have the chance to acquire somebody that we feel like can push to start or push guys in the room to make them know that the urgency's real this year. It's not just lip service. And that's what we did.

"And it's not just, 'Oh, go out and get this flash guy.' No. How can we improve the competitive depth situation right now in training camp? And Devin definitely does that with his championship pedigree."

White was one of the NFL's leading tacklers over his first four seasons, a second-team All-Pro in year two and a Pro Bowler in year three. He was also one of the best pass-rushers at his position, with 20.5 sacks and 35 tackles for loss over that span. But his time in Tampa ended unceremoniously, with White requesting a trade after failed extension talks.

He wound up signing a one-year deal with the Eagles but was released midway through the 2024 season without playing a snap, and finished out the season playing sparingly for the Texans. It looked like White was finished. He knows his critics said as much.

"They probably thought I didn’t have it no more, but it’s OK," he said. "The book keeps going and I’ma write the ending to it."

Seeking a bigger opportunity, White signed with the Raiders last year and piled up a career-high 174 tackles, third most in the NFL. Jack Campbell was second with 176. White's tally included 11 tackles for loss, fourth in the NFL among linebackers. He played nearly every snap in the middle of the Las Vegas defense. His PFF grades outside of pass-rushing weren't kind -- he ranked 88th out of 94 qualified linebackers last season -- but his production spoke for itself.

(And PFF, for what it's worth, has never liked White's game, even when he was a rising star with the Bucs.)

"For me, I was just excited to be playing the game, just happy to be out there flying around," said White. "But self-accomplishments don’t mean nothing. You want to be able to win. This is coming from a person that hoisted that trophy up with a lot of other guys, and that’s the greatest feeling in the world. I just want to get back to that.

"All that self stuff I did, that didn’t mean nothin to me. It was just showing everybody else, man, he can still run, hit, go get the turnovers and get tackles for loss. That's what they needed to see. But for me, it’s about winning and being a team guy."

Naturally, White had suitors in free agency. Lots of them. He's still just 28. Unlike last year when he signed with a bad team where he could rebuild his value -- the Raiders wound up going 3-14 -- White had a different set of priorities this year.

"Coming off last year, losing season, that was the first time ever for me, I ain’t never had a losing season in my career, since I was a kid, so that was very hard," said White. "You try to dot the i’s and cross the t's to put yourself in the best position to win. In this league winning is fun, and you gotta work hard to be able to win. I knew this was a hard-working, winning organization, so I felt like it was just the right fit."

(For the record, White had two losing seasons in Tampa, but one of those saw the Bucs go 8-9 and win their division.)

White added that while he spoke with a number of teams as a free agent, "a lot of other teams would probably be a lot of pieces away from even getting to the postseason, and I really didn’t want to deal with that right now. I wanted to go in and be able to help a team that really wants to win right now."

When he asked a couple of his new teammates, including Jack Campbell, "What's the standard around here?" they replied, "Man, it's all-out." And when he met with the other Campbell when he signed, White's new head coach harkened back to their days as division rivals and said, "That’s what always stuck out on the tape about you: you just go 100 miles per hour."

"So I think I’ll fit right in," said White.

White's role remains to be seen. He's better suited to stop the run and rush the passer than cover in space, so he's not a replacement for Alex Anzalone, now with the Bucs. Barnes is expected to absorb a lot of Anzalone's snaps next to Jack Campbell, but White still has the traits that could make him a situational weapon in Sheppard's defense. And if the injury bug strikes, he could provide crucial depth at the MIKE or SAM positions.

Worth noting, Lions defensive line coach Kacy Rodgers served in the same role in Tampa throughout White's five seasons with the Bucs, "and we did a lot of things together as far as working with the front in Tampa, me blitzing off those guys and putting in certain stunts and stuff," said White. "He knows my play style and what I can do, so he can help these guys be able to utilize me even more."

In the meantime, Sheppard and the Lions will throw White on the field and see where he fits.

"They use all their players’ strengths and I know I got a lot of strengths that can be used," White said, "and I think this is an organization that can bring them out ... I’m just here to help these guys."