Pro Bowl linebacker Devin White has reportedly requested a trade from the Buccaneers, with the two sides at an impasse in talks on an extension. Should the Lions give the Bucs a call?
"I’m intrigued," says Dough Karsch. "I do want to know the price tag. There’s two prices here: the draft pick compensation that the Bucs would want and then how much does White want in a new contract? I have a feeling that one will be high (the money) and one (the draft pick compensation) won’t be."
The Lions could stand to upgrade at linebacker, and they have the draft picks and cap space to facilitate a trade for White. When the Ravens acquired star linebacker Roquan Smith at the age of 25 last season from the Bears, they sacrificed a second-round and fifth-round pick and then gave Smith a five-year, $100 million extension to make him one of the highest-paid linebackers in the NFL. White, 25, is likely looking for a similar deal.
"He’s really good," says Gator. "I really like Devin White as a player. I just don’t know if I want to give up the draft capital and then have to pay him $18 to $20 million a year on a long-term deal to make that work. I think if I’m going to give somebody a big contract like that after trading for him, it would probably be a defensive tackle over a linebacker."
The Lions recently re-signed starting linebacker Alex Anzalone to a three-year, $18.3 million deal and also bring back recent draft picks Malcolm Rodriguez and Derrick Barnes. But the team hasn't had a star at the position since a healthy DeAndre Levy led the NFL in tackles in 2014.
Of course, if Brad Holmes does want to upgrade, he could do so at a much lesser cost in the draft, where the Lions have four picks in the first two rounds. That's the route Gator would rather go:
"The draft could bring you DT Jalen Carter and LB Jack Campbell, or Jalen Carter and pick your linebacker, because at No. 18 you probably have your pick of the litter of all the linebackers, if you think one of those guys is a difference-maker, whether it’s Drew Sanders (Arkansas), Trenton Simpson (Clemson), Campbell (Iowa) or whomever."
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