The Buffalo Bills are bringing back cornerback Tre’Davious White on a one-year contract “worth up to $6.8 million” per ESPN senior NFL insider Adam Schefter. White’s return follows a season away where he played for the Los Angeles Rams and Baltimore Ravens.
Tre’ White became the first player drafted by then-first-year head coach Sean McDermott, who, after making a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs, selected White at 27th overall. White would go on to play with Buffalo for seven seasons, though multiple injuries derailed what had become a dominant career for the shutdown corner.
The first signs that White was indeed human came during a Thanksgiving road game against the New Orleans Saints when he suffered a season-ending ACL injury that required surgery and that left him in a fight to regain his prior form and on-field dominance. Then just as White began to look like his old healthy self, disaster struck and dealt him a torturous fight with a torn Achilles.
Prior to the 2024 season, White was released as a salary cap casualty. He then signed a one-year deal to play CB1 with the Los Angeles Rams. His time in LA proved frustrating to all parties, which led to his being traded to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 10.
Now a full campaign removed from the devastating injury that happened during a Week 3 game (October 3) of the 2023 NFL season, White returns to where all started. After two stints elsewhere, White’s back in the place that made him a household name everywhere Bills Mafia exists.
His signing likely sparks several follow-up questions, not the least of which regards the role White will play in his return. White, a former First-Team All-Pro (2019), Second-Team All-Pro (2020), two-time Pro Bowl cornerback (2019, 2020) who lead the NFL in interceptions in 2019 has played eight professional season and just turned 30 midway through January.
Will White find his way back to his old stomping grounds, as one of the team’s top outside starting corners? Will he have to battle with Dane Jackson, Ja’Marcus Ingram, and perhaps a rookie to re-claim his former starting spot?
Time and practice will tell us more about White’s role with the Bills in 2025. At minimum, his return allows general manager Brandon Beane to operate with all options on the table at any point during the draft. What perhaps felt like a need and automatic selection of a cornerback to pair with Christian Benford now may not be set in stone.
Though the team would be wise to earnestly search out their future at outside CB2, White returns to provide an outstanding veteran presence, and should help the entire cornerback room grow.
