Bills Top Pick Demands To Be Paid Like Late First Rounder

ORCHARD PARK, NY--Negotiations between the Buffalo Bills and their top pick, safety Donte Whitner, have stalled, and there is little hope they will start up again in the near future. Whitner was selected 8th overall by the Bills even though he was projected to go late in the first round. Nevertheless, he wants to be paid late first round money, and the Bills aren’t budging.

“We don’t care where he was projected to go,” said GM Marv Levy. “The fact is, he was selected 8th and that’s how he’s going to be paid. We didn’t reach for this guy just so we could pay him like some mediocre late first rounder. He’s setting a bad precedent here. He needs to follow the example of his teammates. Look at John McCargo. You don't see him demanding to be paid like a fifth round pick.”

The Bills surprised many observers by taking Whitner so high in the draft . Though he fills a need at safety, he probably would have been available late in the first round, and the Bills could have traded down and acquired an extra pick in the process.

The Bills see things differently, however.

“We’re not concerned about where other people project our guys,” said Levy. “We have our own draft board and Donte was really high. He’s only hurting himself by sitting out training camp. Plus I don’t think he gets it. You’re supposed to hold out for more money, not less money. I don’t think we get it either. But we’re not supposed to get it. We’re completely out of touch. What’s his excuse?”

Under new NFL rules, Whitner is being fined $14,000 per day for his absence. He is undeterred, however, and plans to sit out “as long as it takes” to get the contract he deserves. Like many others, Whitner cannot understand why he was drafted so high.

“It was a total shock to go that high,” Whitner said, in a telephone interview. “I was all geared up to go in the late first round or early second round. Unfortunately things don’t always work out the way you plan. But that's okay. All I want is what every NFL player wants: my fair market value, which, in my case, is extremely low.”

Whitner is not the only player to hold out for his fair market value this offseason. Reggie Bush, who was selected with the second pick despite being the consensus number one, demanded to be paid like the top pick anyway. Matt Leinart, who dropped all the way to eleven, is looking to be paid like a lottery pick. Whitner, however, is the only player to hold out for less money because he is too embarrassed to be grossly overpaid by a front office that he believes is “in over its head.”

Levy denied being in over his head and claimed the front office was just sticking to its strategy.

“I’m not in over my head. I’m totally qualified for this job,” he said. “I’ve been in this business for decades. I was losing Super Bowls when Donte Whitner was in kindergarten. This front office has a plan and we’re sticking to it. It may not be a good plan or a sound plan, and it may go against conventional wisdom, and it may blow up in our face and result in the complete collapse of the franchise, but that’s not the point. You have to develop a system and remain faithful to it. I read that in a book about the Patriots.”

The only hope of breaking this impasse lies in the hands of Whitner’s agent, Jonathan Hurst. Hurst appreciates the Bills efforts to overpay his client and will try to convince Whitner to swallow his pride and sign the contract, of which he gets a 5 percent cut

“Getting Donte into camp is our top priority,” Hurst told reporters today. “He shouldn’t worry about where he was projected to go. The fact is, they selected him at 8 and that’s their problem. Plus, this is the Bills. If you’re going to be on a sinking ship you might as well get paid for it.”

The situation grew more dire for Whitner on Tuesday when the Bills announced they would increase their offer every day that he sat out training camp.

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