All the talk involving Tre’Davious White on Wednesday has to do with his short-term future thanks to a few choice words of his. But heading into the day, much of the thought surrounding White’s tenure in Buffalo had question marks in regard to his long-term fate.
But don’t forget: But both are still relevant.
On his short-term future, White revealed that he still has yet to decide if he’s going to play football in 2020. Players have the option to opt-out of playing next season due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and have until Thursday at 4 p.m. to do so. From the sounds of it, White’s going to sleep on it and take his time, but he cited family healthy concerns as to the reason why he might decide to not play, an understandable choice.
But in an effort to not overlook his long-term prospects in Buffalo, White did also discuss his contract status with the Bills on Wednesday via his video conference call.
Heading into 2020, if White plays, he’s entering the final year of his four-year rookie contract. However, he still has two years remaining with the Bills as the club already flexed his fifth-year option on that rookie deal. If he opts out, things get pushed back a year, but regardless, White will have two years of playing time, at minimum, left in Buffalo.
Making sure it’s longer than that is what is of importance to the Bills. White is among the top cornerbacks in the NFL and those invested in the Bills’ success will want him to stick around.
In terms of signing a new deal with the Bills, White essentially made two points. First, he’s patient. He hasn’t signed on the dotted line just yet, but White recognized there’s plenty of time do so. But having said that, White wants to get paid as well.
“I’m not going to rush into anything and go into a premature thing because I’m not negotiating out of desperation… because I’m good. I’m good at managing my money, I’m good at doing things I need to do, being responsible with my finances. I’m not hurting for money to jump at the first thing that’s going to be out there. I know what I’m worth and I know what I feel like I bring to the table for the team. It’s a team game, but I know what I bring to the game, I have a worth that’s out there and it’s a market out there for the defensive backfield, it’s only going up,” White said.
Just last week, White did take to his social media account on Twitter and further proved both of these sentiments. Some other NFL defensive backs recognized White as one of the guys that could reset the market for his position. The Eagles’ Darius Slay even suggested the area of a $22-23M price tag per season. Slay, at $16.9M in 2020, is currently the highest-paid corner in the league.
White did get in on this conversation, but once again said he’s not going to rush getting an extension, but he also didn’t deny he wants to be paid.
COVID-19 will unfortunately play a part here as well. Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane might have to stay cool about re-signing White as well. Because of the pandemic, the NFL’s salary cap is very much in question moving forward. Beane might have to find salary cap space in 2021 and perhaps 2022 to get White’s name on another contract.
But speaking to WGR-550 radio earlier this week, Beane didn’t beat around the bush, he wants White to be a Bill for a long time.
“I’m a big fan of Tre White, on the field, off the field, what he brings to our team,” Beane said. “He’s definitely a guy that I was referring to that you don’t want him to walk out of here, you want to keep him long term. At the end of the day it’s got to be right for him and right for us. Hopefully at the right time we’re able to make that happen.”
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