WGR: Bills and Whitner talk extension

[Demon]

Per Joe Buscaglia-


Orchard Park, NY (WGR 550) -- Considering where he was drafted in 2006, Buffalo Bills starting safety Donte Whitner has failed to live up to expectations in the eyes of many who follow the team. Whitner was the selection when All-Pro and Baltimore Ravens Haloti Ngata was still on the board, at a very big position of need for the Bills.

But Buffalo brought him in, and now five years later, they may just intend to keep him.

Whitner is a free agent at the end of the season and told WGR Sports Radio 550 that the two sides have indeed talked about a matter of an extension.

"We talked a little, we talked a little," said Whitner. "I leave all that stuff up to my agent. All I can focus on is helping the guys around me, helping myself and getting prepared each and every game."

Link- http://www.wgr550.com/Bills-and-Whitner-Have-Talked-Extension--Posluszny/8655814

Wonder how much they over pay to keep him around... ?

[IAG]

They have to keep some of their players.

[tampabay25690]

Glad to hear it.
Im 1 of the people on here that likes Whitner.

[Bravo82]

In before the obligatory OP rant...

Whitner is a serviceable starter in the NFL. He isn't Troy Polamalu by any stretch, but he is far from a liability on this team. Also remember he is still only 25.

[djjimkelly]

i too think whitner is a player who plays avg to good with no front seven his entire career just imagine if we had a pass rush

id like to see how good revis would be with our front 7

[mikemac2001]

I think its an ok move

as much as he might not be lights out

he plays hard and cares about winning seems like he could be a defensive leader.

im ok with it

[Demon]

Glad to hear it.
Im 1 of the people on here that likes Whitner.

I'm with you. I like Whitner too, but i don't want to overpay for him. He's a bust if you consider where he was picked but i do think he's a quality player. But, overpaying for him would be another mistake.

[Prov401]

He's a good player. Happy to hear this.

[Michael82]

I think that Whitner gets too much hate because of where he was drafted. But he's a solid starter at SS. I'm fine with keeping him.

[Yasgur's Farm]

Whitner and Poz... Then Fits, Stevie and Bell.

[JCBills]

I'd make Poz a much bigger priority, but wouldn't mind keeping Whitner.

[bf1]

That's right. Let's reward more mediocrity. And wonder some more why the team is without playoffs for 10+ years.

[NOT THE DUDE...]

That's right. Let's reward more mediocrity. And wonder some more why the team is without playoffs for 10+ years.

dude, whitner is not the problem, maybe if he had a pass rush things would be different

resign/extend

bell
s johnson
fitz
poz
whitner

[Dr. Lecter]

There is no reason to extend Bell or Johnson at this time.

[Mindbender]

I don't mind if they extend Whitner, depending on the price. The only problem to me is their priorities - I think Kelsay and Whitner should have been last in line for extensions.

[WeAreArthurMoates]

I've been very critical of whitner the last 2 years but the last 3 games he's been great, if he keeps playing like this, no complaints.

[YardRat]

I hope they do re-sign him, and expect them to.

[mightysimi]

That's right. Let's reward more mediocrity. And wonder some more why the team is without playoffs for 10+ years.

And then what? Open another position of need? Unless you think George Wilson should be starting I think there are more pressing concerns.

[OpIv37]

arrgh.

He has two good games, so he gets an extension?

This team never ****ing learns.

[Dr. Lecter]

He has had more than two good games.

He has been pretty solid, even pretty good, most of this year.

[OpIv37]

He has had more than two good games.

He has been pretty solid, even pretty good, most of this year.

no, that's really not true.

He was good the last two games.

Prior to that, he was at best mediocre and at worst a liability.

This guy is a holdover of the old regime. He's a microcosm for the last 10 years. Guys like Whitner and Kelsay are the reasons we suck and we need to cut ties with them if this team is ever going to move forward.

And he's the epitome of narcissism so he's going to want far more than he's worth.

[DrGraves]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[kelly2reed4six]

i too think whitner is a player who plays avg to good with no front seven his entire career just imagine if we had a pass rush

id like to see how good revis would be with our front 7




Amen brother.....for the past 10 years our loser front office has failed to realize that a balanced defense is necessary for success. I'm not by any means saying whitner would be an all star with a front seven that was NFL worthy, but how would be ever know????

[Mike]

i too think whitner is a player who plays avg to good with no front seven his entire career just imagine if we had a pass rush

id like to see how good revis would be with our front 7
I hate comments like that. Basically you are arguing that you need a good team around you to be good. Its a circular argument.

What most fail to see is that Time and Time again, cream rises to the top. See Calvin Johnson on the 2-9 Lions, or Andre Johnson with Huston who had a bunch of no-name QBs and an aweful line but still produced before Shuab.... Heck even Steve Johnson has shown something.... and he has the Fitz throwing him the ball and a pretty bad o-line.

Anyways, back to Whitner, if he played on an all-star defensive team I think he may be a little better, his weakness may be disguised better with a good/great pass-rush, but he is still the same basic player. In such a situation, he would have less opportunity to fail due to the quality around him, his flaws would be better disguised, but he still would be the weak link on such a team. Other teams would try to isolate him and attack him and I still think you will see him fail time to time. Great defenses have better SS than him.

[BillsFever21]

Great players stand out from the rest and help make the overall team better. If it took nothing but great players around Whitner to make him great then would that make him a good player?

A team is built around a few core studs and the rest should be interchangeable if you have a good FO. With that said he is decent and I would be open to an extension if the price is right but the Bills always overpay for their average talent they keep around. Hell they have given Kelsay two different extensions for 6 million a year.

They would rather overpay for an average player and give them 6+ million a year then pay for that great player and give them 10+ million a year. Or by today's NFL standards you're talking 12+ million a year with tons of guaranteed money.

I'm all for keeping your own players instead of going after FA's if they are worth the money. The Bills have a tendency to keep average talent around and overpay for it though. I could see them giving Whitner 8+ million a year. He was already making 5-6 million on average with his rookie contract and would want a raise on that.

[better days]

I think that Whitner gets too much hate because of where he was drafted. But he's a solid starter at SS. I'm fine with keeping him.

I think the fact the Bills could have drafted Ngata instead of him has more to do with the hate than where he was picked myself.

When the Bills were on the clock, I was EXCITED, expecting to hear Ngatas name, when they picked Whitner, I was PIZZED & still am, but I think he is playing decent.

[jamze132]

This scares me. If OBD gave Kelsay of all people $24M, Whitner might get close to $40m. Un****ingreal.

[ServoBillieves]

I played up until high school football. There was a kid with serious brain issues with the last name Brittner. All I could think of after Whitners drafting was the comparison between the two...

Aside from that, Whitner is a great run stuffing 3rd down safety. Byrd is being thrown away from, if you cover that 2nd part of the field that Whitner draws to (let's talk to the Ravens Offense) then Byrd is irrelevant. Byrd is a ball hawk, but he's holding back this season, due to the fact that no one is forcing passes over the middle. No one is throwing his way where he'd be in a position (that a true defensive coordinator) would put him in.

Jairus, Drayton, Donte and Leodis could keep things up, but it seems that any given sunday, one of them doesn't want to play.

[Dujek]

Op take off the anti-Whitner glasses you always wear and actually watch how the guy plays. Is he elite? No. Was he worth the 8th draft pick? No. Is he a solid starting safety in the NFL and worth extending? Yes.

Whitner is at least top half in SS in the NFL, and I remember seeing a couple of lists at the start of last season where some people got over excited and had him listed as top 10. There are at least 16 teams in the league who would love to have him.

[Night Train]

Whitner was the wrong pick. It should have been the NT Ngata of the Ravens. We ALL know that. That isn't HIS fault.

He should be extended because his game is very good now. DL and LB are our pressing needs on D.

[OpIv37]

Op take off the anti-Whitner glasses you always wear and actually watch how the guy plays. Is he elite? No. Was he worth the 8th draft pick? No. Is he a solid starting safety in the NFL and worth extending? Yes.

Whitner is at least top half in SS in the NFL, and I remember seeing a couple of lists at the start of last season where some people got over excited and had him listed as top 10. There are at least 16 teams in the league who would love to have him.

Take off your pro-Whitner glasses and watch how the guy plays. He's absolutely NOT a top half starting SS in the NFL. He's the kind of starter that's acceptable for now only because this team has so many other holes- he's not a flat-out liability on every play, so the need to replace him isn't as crucial as it is for many other positions. But a better team would be looking to replace him ASAP.

Guys like Whitner have been a dime a dozen on this team for the past 10 years- they skate by because so many other positions need much more urgent upgrades. You want to keep guys like Whitner? Fine- just don't ***** when the product on the field continues to be mediocre.

[X-Era]

Re-sign Whitner AND look for an upgrade. Depth is key to building a winning program.

[Mahdi]

He has always been a starting safety in this league. And I would say he belongs in the top half of SS in the NFL. There are not that many SS in the NFL that are great tacklers and also strong in coverage and can also hanlde man-to-man responsibilities on WRs and TEs.

[patmoran2006]

About a month ago this news would've made me sick. But I'm actually starting to like the way he's playing.

[OpIv37]

About a month ago this news would've made me sick. But I'm actually starting to like the way he's playing.

I am willing to give credit where credit is due, and I have already given Whitner credit for playing well in the last two games.

But he was average at best for 4 years in the old system and 8 of 10 games in the new system.

Now, I realize there is a chance that he's improving in the new system and he may continue to improve, especially if this team does something about the pass rush. But is this a chance we are really willing to take? With so many much more bad than good on his resume, and the fact that we cant trust this team to upgrade the pass rush to help him out, I really don't think committing any more resources to this guy is wise.

[tampabay25690]

And this year everyone was ready to give Jarius Bryd a huge extension.....
THIS guy has been a bust this year plain and simple..............
Said it before the season and I guess I was 100% correct.....
G. Wilson should stat over Byrd all day...

[Mr. Pink]

Whitner isn't worth being extended.

He's not the problem but he also isn't part of the solution. He still can't cover TEs, he gets juked out of his jock by RBs and then delivers a nice hit once in a while. That's Donte Whitner in a nutshell.

He's been a huge disappointment since his days at Ohio State. Whatever he was able to accomplish there unfortunately never translated to the pro game.

He's an average NFL SS at best and a guy that can be easily replaced by another average NFL SS.

[trapezeus]

depending on price this is an ok move.

I think the bills could survive with george wilson as SS. Whitner is getting better, but he isn't better to pay a premium.

[Mr. Pink]

depending on price this is an ok move.

I think the bills could survive with george wilson as SS. Whitner is getting better, but he isn't better to pay a premium.


If you think you can replace Whitner with Wilson in the lineup then there is absolutely no reason to extend him.

[jamze132]

I will sign for the league minimum and make shoulder tackles all game. Would be much cheaper than Whitner.

[JCBills]

And this year everyone was ready to give Jarius Bryd a huge extension.....
THIS guy has been a bust this year plain and simple..............
Said it before the season and I guess I was 100% correct.....
G. Wilson should stat over Byrd all day...

Who said extend Byrd after only one year into his rookie contract?

[Extremebillsfan247]

I don't envy the Bills front office at this point. They are going to negotiate virtually blind without knowing how the new CBA will turn out, assuming there is one for next year. If they overspend, it ties their hands. If they try and undercut, he wont be back. So they have some tough decisions to make when the season is over.

I hope they can get something done with Whitner though. Our defensive secondary has been one of our strong points since Whitner has been here. Without him, I don't know how much it changes the dynamic of our defensive secondary, but it probably wont be a good thing to lose him at this point. JMO