Getty Kevin White has been added to the New Orleans Saints' 53-man roster.
Kevin White has found a new home with the New Orleans Saints.
The former seventh overall pick for the Chicago Bears in 2015 was signed to the Saints’ 53-man roster, as first reported by ESPN insider Fields Yates. White had been added to the team’s practice squad in August, and has impressed head coach Sean Payton and company since then.
“He’s young and someone we’d like to work with,” Payton told the Saints’ official website in August. “I like the way he runs. You see it on tape. Obviously, he’s a former first-round pick, so he’s still a younger player.”
White has played 32 snaps in his three games with the Saints so far this season, catching his first pass in an NFL game since 2018. It was a key 38-yard grab in New Orleans’ Week 8 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and he has since seen his role expand on both offense and special teams.
Trevor Siemian to Kevin White for 38 YARDS!!! 🙌
#TBvs NO | 📺: FOX
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White Says Opportunity With Saints ‘Means Everything’
“It means everything,” White said back in August about getting another chance with the Saints, via the team’s official website. “Going on year seven, not really getting an opportunity. Now that I’m healthy, I know a lot about the game, I know how the business works. I feel good. It just means a lot that someone else gave me a chance to live out my dream and kind of prove myself right and everyone else wrong.”
White landed with the San Francisco 49ers last year, and he played only seven snaps in three games for the Niners, spending the bulk of his 2020 campaign on their practice squad before moving on after the season.
“I never played this game for just money,” White added. “It’s not just a money thing for me. If it was a money thing I would have retired and quit and done other things that were able to make me a lot of income. But it’s just something that I love to do. I don’t think I would be able to live with myself knowing I have a lot of potential, and just giving it up. I don’t ever want to look back and say, ‘Man, I should have just tried one more time,’ or, ‘Man, I wish I would have put more work in.’ So I’m going forward until they kick me out of this league.”
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White Has Stayed Healthy for Several Seasons After Rough Start to Career
White suffered a stress fracture in his leg during his rookie campaign, and he didn’t play at all in 2015. A severe high ankle sprain and fractured fibula followed in 2016, and he dealt with a fractured shoulder after that in 2017. The 29-year-old wideout stayed healthy in 2018, but the Bears released him after the season was over.
“For whatever reason, (health and opportunity) never lined up,” White noted in August. “But I’m trying not to look back too much, move forward because every time I look back and I think of why and the old stuff, it could bring me down, like, ‘Man, I shouldn’t be here. I should be here. My stats should be here.’ I just don’t try to go in that bubble.”
White has played in 20 games over the five seasons he has been active, catching 26 passes for 323 yards. He has yet to score a touchdown in an NFL game.
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