One of the unfortunate realities of the NFL free agency cycle is that sometimes really good players just slip through the cracks. We don’t have to look much further than what happened with Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Zack Baun in 2024 to see exactly what that means.
After 4 seasons spent mostly as a special teams player with the New Orleans Saints, Baun landed with the Eagles in 2024 on a 1-year, $1.6 million contract. One year later, Baun was an NFL All-Pro, Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion with a 3-year, $51 million contract.
Eye of the beholder, right?
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in desperate need of another proven inside linebacker to play alongside Lavonte David in 2025 and Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon thinks the answer could be veteran Kyzir White, who remains unsigned despite having a career season with 137 tackles, 9 TFL, 2.5 sacks and one interception while starting all 17 games for the Arizona Cardinals in 2024.
“At the very least a reliable role player with three triple-digit-tackle seasons on his resume, White is still on the right side of 30 and is coming off possibly the best season of his career with 137 tackles and a top-20 PFF grade in run defense among qualified players at his position,” Gagnon wrote. ” … It’s a toss-up between the Buccaneers and Rams, both of whom need talent in the second level. We’ll go with Tampa because it doesn’t know when Lavonte David might fall off a cliff.”
White’s Path From Juco to All-Big 12 to NFL Draft Pick
White, 6-foot-2 and 234 pounds, went from starring at safety for Lackawanna (Pa.) College — a junior college — to earning All-Big 12 honors as a safety/linebacker hybrid at West Virginia in 2017 with 94 tackles, 3 interceptions, 2 forced fumbles and 7 pass deflections.
The Los Angeles Chargers selected White in the fourth round (No. 119 overall) of the 2018 NFL draft and moved him to linebacker during rookie minicamp.
White earned a starting spot for the Chargers as a rookie but only played in 3 games before a knee injury cut his season short. He played 16 games with 7 starts in 2019 then became a full time starter in 2020 before putting together his most complete season to date in 2021 with 144 tackles, 2 interceptions, 2 forced fumbles and 7 TFL while starting all 17 games.
That performance did little for White in terms of market value. He spent 2022 with the Eagles on a 1-year, $3 million contract, playing all 17 games with 8 starts and 110 tackles while helping Philadelphia make it to the Super Bowl.
White signed a 2-year, $10 million contract with the Cardinals in March 2023. He had 90 tackles in 11 games in 2023 before a torn biceps tendon sidelined him for the final 6 games of the season.
Projecting What White Might Cost Bucs as Free Agent
White has $18.6 million in career earnings through 7 seasons. He’s also the second of his siblings to make it to the NFL. His older brother, wide receiver Kevin White, was the No. 7 overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft by the Chicago Bears out of West Virginia and played 8 seasons in the NFL.
If the Buccaneers are truly interested in White, a starting point might be a 1-year, $5 million offer — equal to what he made with the Cardinals in 2024.
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