James White continues to be available on the open market, and it seems it is both due to the overall running back market and his own wishes.
NFL Media’s Michael Giardi explained why White, who spent the last seven seasons with the New England Patriots, remains unsigned.
“Wondering about free agent RB James White?” Giardi tweeted. “Per source, there has been some calls inquiring about his services but with the market slow to develop at (running back), it appears the former Patriot is taking his time to see if more will appear.”
“Taking his time to see if more will appear” sounds like someone holding out for a better offer, no?
Reports surfaced on the second day of the league’s legal tampering period that “several teams” were interested in White. Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers were among the teams inquiring at that time.
White is among several running backs — Todd Gurley, Duke Johnson, Tevin Coleman, Leonard Fournette, Le’Veon Bell and former Patriot teammate Rex Burkhead — still available. In fact, 14 running backs have agreed to contracts this offseason with half of them signing one-year contracts and the other half signing two-year deals, as compiled by Spotrac.com.
Kenyan Drake (two years, $11 million) and Chris Carson (two years, $10.425 million) have signed this offseason’s biggest contracts.
The Patriots reportedly had been targeting available running backs last week as they have Damien Harris, Sony Michel, Brandon Bolden and J.J. Taylor under contract.
