Well, that didn’t take long.
Former New York Jets quarterback Mike White is back in the AFC East. Adam Schefter of ESPN shared on social media that White signed a deal with the Buffalo Bills to join their practice squad on Tuesday, August 27.
Schefter added that White has now been on three of the four teams in the AFC East over the last three seasons.
Staying in the AFC East: Former Dolphins and Jets QB Mike White is signing with the Buffalo Bills practice squad, per sources. The Bills will be White’s third different AFC East team in three seasons.
White was most recently with the Miami Dolphins on a two-year deal for $8 million. However, the team released him on Sunday, August 25 allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent.
Jets Don’t Have a QB3 on the Squad
The Jets’ top two players on the quarterback depth chart are secure. New York boasts the oldest quarterback room in football in 2024.
Aaron Rodgers, 40, and Tyrod Taylor, 35, provide the green and white with one of the best QB rooms they have ever had.
However, it isn’t all peaches and cream. Rodgers is coming off of a torn Achilles and Taylor has dealt with injury issues throughout his NFL career.
On Tuesday, August 27 the Jets performed a ritual bloodletting getting rid of all of the other quarterbacks on the roster. Gang Green parted ways with both Adrian Martinez and Andrew Peasley.
There is a chance one or both could return to the practice squad this week. However, even if they do, neither player brings with them much experience at the NFL level.
A Missed Potential Opportunity for the Jets
White is joining the Bills’ practice squad to continue his NFL career.
Some folks in Jets land were hoping that he would bring his talents back to New York.
White, 29, spent four years with the Jets from 2019 through 2022. During that run, the former Western Kentucky product appeared in eight games and made seven starts.
White has ideal size for the position standing in at 6-foot-5 and tipping the scales at 224 pounds.
NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein said the first thing he noticed on film was his “arm talent.” He noted that White was a former high school pitcher who possessed a 90-mile-per-hour fastball in his pre-draft evaluations.
What he lacked in pizzazz, White has made up for in spurts with his ability to run a system.
In his first career NFL start with the Jets in 2021, he made history.
“[White] set a record for most completions (37) by a quarterback in his first start. He also joined former Carolina Panthers star Cam Newton (422) as the only players since 1950 to reach the 400-yard mark in their starting debut,” Rich Cimini of ESPN revealed.
While those numbers were eye-popping, they reveal a different story when you evaluate them up close. White just took what the defense gave him and methodically moved the Jets down the field to score points.
The most important stat is White found a way to win a thrilling 34-31 contest against a team that ended up in the Super Bowl that year [Cincinnati Bengals].
In the most respectful way possible, White is a professional quarterback. That would have been a massive upgrade over whatever the Jets had or will have at that spot.
