Before the 2017 season, and after five years with the Bills, cornerback Stephon Gilmore signed a five-year, $65 million deal with the Patriots that has turned out to be quite a bargain in retrospect. Gilmore, the 2019 Defensive Player of the Year, is the best cornerback in the business — especially in man coverage, but he’s also lockdown when playing zone, and when he moves inside to the slot.
The loss of a player of Gilmore’s caliber would be a major hit to most defenses, but the Bills had a plan in place. They selected Tre’Davious White with the 27th overall pick in the 2017 draft out of LSU, and watched as White became just as effective a defender as Gilmore had become.
On Saturday, the BIlls made it very clear that they were not going to let White get away from them as Gilmore once had — with two years left on his rookie contract, White signed a four-year, $69 million deal that could hit $70 million with Pro Bowl incentives, and makes him the league’s highest-paid cornerback in terms of guaranteed money — $55 million, which Miami’s Byron Jones’s $54.375 million in total guarantees. The annual average of $17.5 million is also the NFL’s highest, beating out Darius Slay’s $16,683,333.
Gilmore and White are different types of players — Gilmore is more aggressive and White is more of a technician — but each player fits his team incredibly well. Last season, Buffalo played zone coverage on 57% of its defensive snaps, and there wasn’t a better zone cornerback in the NFL than White. When playing zone, per Sports Info Solutions, White allowed 25 receptions on 43 targets for 325 yards, no touchdowns, and five interceptions.
Of course, if you want to play man or combo coverages, White can handle that just fine — last season, he allowed 15 catches on 35 targets for 132 yards when in those circumstances.
Why is White so effective regardless of what the Bills are doing? His technique and recognition ability are second to none in the league. This Week 3 interception of an Andy Dalton attempt to receiver Tyler Boyd shows just how ill-advised it is to throw the ball anywhere near where White can read and jump the route.
Life is tough as a quarterback when the cornerback runs your receiver’s route better than your receiver does.
White had two of his five interceptions against the Steelers in a Week 14 win that clinched Buffalo’s 2019 playoff berth. His second interception of the night came as quarterback Devlin “Duck” Hodges threw… well, a duck to receiver Diontae Johnson on a quick out route. As he did with Boyd, White ran Johnson’s route better than Johnson did.
“When I was in coverage, I got a good read on the route,” White said after the game. “I just broke on it and just believed in my film study and the things that I’ve been seeing earlier in the game, and the quarterback threw the ball and I was able to make a big-time play.”
White’s backpedal is a thing of beauty, which allows him to play off coverage more effectively. Few if any cornerbacks play bail coverage better — White has a supernatural ability to track the backfield with his eyes while keeping up with the most difficult routes and most talented receivers. He showed this with his first interception against the Steelers, covering speed receiver James Washington downfield. If you want to draw up a zone cornerback and all that is required from the position, White is as close to the paradigm as you’ll find in the league today.
White turned 25 in January, and he’s just come into his own as one of the league’s most valuable defenders, regardless of position. That’s why the Bills paid him as they did — they didn’t want to lose the guy who could wind up being the NFL’s best cornerback all over again. Tre’Davious White has proven to be worth every penny of that new contract.