Roddy White and now his agent have piled on Kyle Shanahan, stating the Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator is the reason for White’s cut from the team.
According to D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Roddy White’s agent Jonathan Feinsod believes that Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan is solely responsible for the Falcons organization cutting its greatest receiver in franchise history.
White had been to four Pro Bowls and had over 10,000 receiving yards all while with the Falcons since being drafted by the team late in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft out of UAB.
Feinsod told Ledbetter Sunday, “There is only one reason Roddy is no longer with the Falcons and it is Kyle Shanahan. Kyle forced the Falcons to choose between him or Roddy. This was not Roddy’s choice.”
While Atlanta’s offense at times sputtered under Shanahan’s watch, particularly on obvious passing situations on third down and in the red zone, the Falcons did achieve its first 1,000-yard rusher in four seasons with Pro Bowl running back Devonta Freeman, had one of its wideouts post a near historic year in All-Pro Julio Jones, and had an offensive line that had balance both in pass protection and in run blocking in Shanahan’s patented zone blocking scheme.
White was rarely targeted in Shanahan’s West Coast aerial attack and quarterback Matt Ryan suffered several setbacks transitioning from Dirk Koetter’s highly successful Air Coryell offense to Shanahan’s system in 2015.
Though White is clearly past his prime as an NFL receiver, he still has great value in this league as a veteran possession that is incredibly physical with great hands in the middle of the field. While his and his agent’s scathing comments about Shanahan may rub some teams the run way about signing the career Falcon, he can still have success in the NFL as a veteran No. 2 or No. 3 wide receiver in this league for at least a couple more seasons.