Reset the market, without resetting the market?
In handing White a contract that’s the largest ever for a cornerback, the Bills made “reset” the cornerback market in the NFL. That term is dusted off when a team makes a player the new highest-paid guy at their respective spot.
But perhaps most importantly, the Bills did so, kind of without doing so? Yes, $17.5M per season for a guy that opponents can just decide not to throw to might seem like a lot. But that extension does not kick in until the 2022 season. In 2020, White will have his four-year rookie salary and cap hit of $3.2M. In 2021, it jumps to $10.3M because the Bills flexed the fifth-year option on his rookie deal already.
Then in 2022, White will earn an average of $17.5M per season. We don’t know the full breakdown of his deal yet, but that 2022 is noteworthy because by the time it comes around… will White even be the top-paid corner? Truthfully, probably not. Among the highest paid? Certainly. But other cornerbacks, such as Marshon Lattimore, Marlon Humphrey and Jalen Ramsey all will hope to earn more than White and probably will. That’s not a reflection on those players being better than White, it’s just how things go in the NFL. One guy signs a deal, the next one wants a tad more, and then a tad more, and then a tad more. We might have a few of these “tad mores” before 2022 rolls around.