Bills Plan to Release Former All-Pro CB Tre’Davious White

The Buffalo Bills have made a flurry of moves on Wednesday which included the release of cornerback Tre’Davious White, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. White was not the only cap casualty of the day for the Bills as they also released center Mitch Morris and safety Jordan Poyer. The Steelers could be a player.

The Bills announced that they intend to release White with a post-June 1 designation. White’s departure is set to free up $10.2 million in salary cap space for the Bills in 2024 but they will be forced to take on $6.2 million in dead money for the upcoming season.

The post-June 1 designation will provide relief as a sum of future money on White’s contract will be pushed onto the team’s 2025 salary instead of this season’s salary. The caveat to the post-June 1 designation is that while White can sign with a new team as early as next week, his contract will stay on the Bills’ salary until June 2, 2024.

White, a first-round pick of the Bills in the 2017 NFL Draft, burst onto the scene in his third year as he earned All-Pro First Team honors and ended the 2019 season as the co-interception leader. His co-leading six interceptions in 2019 included two interceptions of Steelers quarterback Devlin Hodges. White followed his breakout season with another strong year in 2020, earning All-Pro Second Team nominations.

Additionally, White made the Pro Bowl in the 2019 and 2020 seasons. Following his strong two-year stretch, the Bills rewarded White with a lucrative four-year, $70 million contract extension, which made him the NFL’s highest-paid defensive back at the time.

The decline of White’s play over the past few seasons is a direct result of injuries as he suffered a torn ACL in 2021 and then a torn Achilles tendon in 2023.

The Steelers are in need of cornerback help but after White’s recent injuries, the days of him being an every down, outside cornerback may be over. While White is likely to be a hot commodity on the open market, the Steelers are likely to fill their secondary needs with other options.