Roddy White was the man of the Atlanta Falcons. Even when Julio Jones was first drafted, the Falcons were White's team. However, now that Jones has developed into one of the best receivers in the league and White is reaching the end of his career, the tables have turned. Now into the 2015 season, white has had two catchless games as he is doing more blocking than route running in Kyle Shanahan's offense. While the receiver has spoken out regarding his displeasure with the plan. He is not looking to be traded.
White made headlines when he told ESPN's Vaughn McClure that he wants more catches and more passes thrown his way. The receiver has taken a backseat to both Jones and Leonard Hankerson while having just six catches for 92 yards on the season. White said that while he does not plan on going to Shanahan and complaining, he wants to be involved and is not thrilled over his lack of targets.
"For me, at the end of the day, I want to catch passes," White said, via ESPN.com. "I'm not out here just f---ing around just to sit around to just block f---ing people all day. It's not what I want to do. I've contributed to offenses for this franchise for the last nine, 10 years. It always bothers me when I go out and don't catch any balls in a game because it hasn't happened in so long."
That led to a firestorm of rumors around the receiver. Trade rumors began piling in as sources were reporting White could be headed out as the Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens would be perfect landing spots. This caused White to backtrack on his comments from earlier and make sure the media knew that he was not disgruntled with the offense or the Falcons franchise. Will this stop the trade rumors? No, of course not, but White is doing his best to set the record straight so things do not get out of hand as the team remains undefeated on the season.
"This is nothing to get mad over," White said, via the Atlanta Journal Constitution. "I can't control no plays that are being called in the huddle. All I can do is run the routes I'm supposed to run on the play and do my job. That's all I can do."
Both Matt Ryan and Jones have come to the receiver's defense. Ryan made it clear that White was a very big part of the team's offense plan and would continue to be for the rest of the season. White is a franchise player. That is why the Falcons gave him the three-year contract last year. A trade of the receiver is highly unlikely regardless of the comments.
