Buffalo has precedent to strike a deal with Whitner

By Connor Byrne  |   Tuesday, July 25, 2006  |  Comments( 10 )

Buffalo Bills
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The Oakland Raiders and their first-round pick, safety Michael Huff, came to an agreement on Monday. The seventh overall selection signed a five-year deal worth between $22.5 and $26.5 million with $15 million in guarantees. Huff's contract also includes incentives that would make the former University of Texas star up to $43 million.

Naturally, the Buffalo Bills paid very close attention to Huff's contract, since they, too, took a safety in the top 10.

The Bills' top choice, Donte' Whitner, was selected eighth overall - one pick after Huff. Whitner was certainly a surprise pick for the Bills, who many were expecting to grab either a defensive tackle or quarterback with their pick. However, general manager Marv Levy and his front office staff gave Whitner the highest grade of any safety in the draft, and they elected to jump all over the former Ohio State Buckeye.

With the Huff deal having gone through, Buffalo's owner, Ralph Wilson, will have his work cut out for him in trying to reach an agreement with his best rookie. Of course, the Bills' training camp opens on Friday, which doesn't give Wilson and cap specialist Jim Overdorf too much time to strike a fair deal with Whitner.

If the Bills fail to get Whitner to camp on time, the starting strong safety position will be given to veteran Matt Bowen, a six-year veteran who last started for the Washington Redskins in 2003. However, Whitner should eventually get the job, as long as he plays well enough in camp and preseason.

Last season the 5-10, 204-pounder was a nightmare against the pass for Big 10 quarterbacks, as he finished with 73 tackles, four sacks and two interceptions. Because of his impressive numbers, Whitner was named to the First Team All-Big 10 squad.

Assuming Whitner doesn't stage a lengthy holdout, his No. 1 job in Buffalo will be to make his veteran teammates forget about veteran Lawyer Milloy, who was released by the organization in February. Although Milloy was well past his prime, he was greatly liked and respected by the remainder of the Bills' defensive veterans. Most prominently, two-time Pro Bowl linebacker Takeo Spikes has been somewhat publicly opposed to the selection of Whitner, since he was unhappy about the Milloy release.

Whitner wasn't the only Buffalo Bills first-round pick, however. The team traded up and used the 26th overall selection on defensive tackle John McCargo, a former NC State star who is expected to make an impact in the Bills' new "Tampa 2" defense.

In order to get both players into camp on time, the 87-year-old Wilson will have to open up the purse strings and spend some big-time money. Whether or not he'll do it promptly is another matter altogether. Buffalo's fans can only hope so.

--Connor J. Byrne can be reached at cbyrne@realfootball365.com

Get more on Donte' Whitner at Realfootball365.com
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