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S Donte Whitner (Official Thread)

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Whitner trending up
By Tyler Diedrich, Contributing Correspondent

It?s quietly been a career year for Donte Whitner.

The Bills? 2006 first-round draft pick out of Ohio State has often been criticized for missed opportunities in the past, but has excelled in Buffalo?s new defensive scheme.

No game better illustrates that than his career-high 18-tackle performance in Sunday?s loss to Pittsburgh.

Whitner, tied for fourth in the league with a team-leading 104 tackles (most among all NFL defensive backs), credited the change from former defensive coordinator Perry Fewell?s Tampa 2 system to current coordinator George Edwards? 3-4.

?I?m an undersized safety, so the position I was playing in that Tampa 2 defense was really not fitted for a guy with my skill set or my size,? the 5-foot-10, 208-pound strong safety said. ?Instead of making a big fuss about it ? I just did what the coaches needed me to do, and played different roles and different positions ? mostly in the box ? to allow other guys to play in the middle of the field. Now, (the 3-4 has) allowed me to do a lot more things.?

Whitner said he?s relishing the new system, which is similar to the one he played in with the Buckeyes and allows him to take on a variety of responsibilities.

?Covering tight ends, covering wide receivers, playing in the box, playing deep, blitzing ... my responsibilities in this defense are endless, and I enjoy it and I welcome it,? he said. ?It?s fun. Hopefully we can continue to get wins, and continue to play well, and I?ll take as much responsibility as I have to.?

Whitner is just one tackle shy of his previous career high, which he set his rookie year. Despite having no interceptions this season, he is tied for third on the team with five passes defensed.

Although he notched double-digit tackles in the three games leading to the bye week, he said he hadn?t completely adapted to the new system until after the open date.

?You always feel like you know the defense,? he said. ?But until you really get out in to live action and see how teams attack what we do, that?s when (you) really start to feel comfortable.?
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http://www.buffalobills.com/news/article-2/Whitner-trending-up/0648c88e-fc74-4ae0-b0f9-1059b0f202b6
 
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Bills S Whitner negotiating to re-sign with team
By JOHN WAWROW
The Associated Press
Wednesday, December 8, 2010

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Buffalo Bills safety Donte Whitner says he's having contract talks with the team in a bid to avoid becoming a free agent after this season.

Whitner says the two sides have been negotiating for more than a month, but no deal has been reached. Whitner hopes a new contract can be reached because he'd prefer remaining in Buffalo (2-10) and help turn around a team that will miss the playoffs for an 11th straight season. Buffalo hosts Cleveland (5-7) on Sunday.

Whitner has been a starter since his rookie season in 2006, after being drafted eighth overall out of Ohio State. He's second on the team this year with 110 tackles - the third season he's had at least 100.

The Bills have a policy to not discuss contract talks.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/08/AR2010120805073.html
 
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Whitner wants to quiet his family
Crazy things seem to happen when the Bills meet the Browns.
Updated: December 10, 2010

Buffalo+Bills+safety+Donte+Whitner+%2820%29.jpg


There are two things you can count on when the Bills and Browns get together. It will be an odd game, and Donte Whitner will have more friends and family here than teammates.

"I have 70 people coming up," said Whitner, a Cleveland native who attended his first Browns game when he was 5. "I don't know why the games are so weird, but it's been that way since I came here. But I like it, and my family likes it."

They ought to like it. Most of Whitner's clan are diehard Browns fans. They've gone seven years without a playoff team, nearly as long as Bills fans. They've never seen the Browns play in a Super Bowl. But at least their squad has managed to beat the team on this end of Lake Erie three years in a row.

When you're a Cleveland sports fan, desperate for titles and newly spurned by LeBron James, you appreciate any chance to gloat.

"They dog me all the time," Whitner said. "They tell me how bad we are, how Cleveland's on the rise. I don't listen to anything they say. Hopefully, we can get this win so I can get them off my back. We need to stop the run and take away what they like to do best on offense."

Cont...
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http://www.buffalonews.com/incoming/article280047.ece
 
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http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5926682&campaign=rss&source=NFLHeadlines

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Safety Donte Whitner is unhappy with the Buffalo Bills' latest offer in contract talks, and says there's a distinct possibility he'll become a free agent.
Referring to himself as surprised and hurt, Whitner says he and the Bills are far apart after the two sides held talks this week. He didn't sound optimistic a deal can be reached, while noting the Bills are scheduled to contact his agent on Thursday.
He's in the final year of a five-year contract, and has been a starter since the Bills selected him out of Ohio State with the eighth overall pick in 2006.
Talks first opened last month. Whitner's status as a free agent will depend on the NFL negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement.
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GeorgiaBuck2;1835074; said:
Maybe he can actually go to a decent team and get some recognition that he deserves.
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I'm a Bills fan and I'm relieved he's going somewhere else. I'm sick and tired of defending Donte Whitner amongst the idiotic Bills fan who do nothing but bash this guy 24/7/365...Good luck Donte, this is one Bills fan who appreciated you...I look forward to next season laughing at the Bills when George Wilson whiffs on tackles non stop. :osu:

I'd love to see the Browns pick him up.
 
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Donte Whitner wants to return to Bills

Safety Donte Whitner?s agent has had ongoing negotiations with the Bills. Whitner, 25, is having his most productive season. He?s leading all NFL defensive backs in tackles with 125, the fifth-highest total in the league. Whitner very much would like to return to the Bills ? if the team makes him an offer he views as satisfactory. It?s believed he?s looking for a deal that would put him in the top five at the safety position, in the $7 million-a-year range. It?s believed the Bills so far have been offering well below that ? in the $5 million-a-year range.

Entire article: http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/bills-nfl/article293744.ece
 
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Whitner emotional
Posted by Chris Brown on January 2, 2011

Bills SS Donte Whitner was emotional after the season finale Sunday. The loss was bad enough, but the uncertainty of his playing future was already affecting him.

?It was really emotional even before we got to the stadium,? said Whitner. ?I love these guys in this locker room, and I love this staff. This is the only place I?ve ever been. I?ve spent more time with these guys than I have with my actual family, so it makes it tough. It all comes down to the emotional side of the game. We don?t know where were going, but like I said, I would like to be back here. Now it is the off season, so we will see what happens.?

Whitner is a player that is passionate about the game and wears his heart on his sleeve. It was evident to those that interviewed him after Sunday?s season ending loss.
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http://blogs.buffalobills.com/2011/01/02/whitner-emotional/
 
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Whitner?s exit
Posted by Chris Brown on January 3, 2011

Bills free agent safety to be Donte Whitner was nowhere to be found during locker clean out at One Bills Drive Monday. The former first-round pick looked to be long gone with his locker completely bare including his name plate at the top, which was disappointing to see as far as his head coach was concerned.

?Tenuous would be a word you could use there,? said Chan Gailey when asked about Whitner?s future with the organization. ?I didn?t realize that until I was told that a few minutes ago that that had happened. He?s a really good player. You?d love to have him on your football team, but we?re in a business where that doesn?t happen every time. We?ll wait and see what happens.?

When asked Whitner?s apparent intentions to exit quickly Gailey said the following.

?You don?t what kind of advice these guys get,? he said.
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http://blogs.buffalobills.com/2011/01/03/whitners-exit/
 
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Donte Whitner monitoring job speculation
February, 21, 2011
By Tim Graham

Donte Whitner seems intrigued by speculation the Buffalo Bills might be interested in newly unattached safeties Bob Sanders and O.J. Atogwe.

Whitner has been retweeting links to stories that wonder if the Bills would chase either free agent as a replacement for him. Whitner's contract is about to expire, and he hasn't played up to his draft position. The Bills used the eighth overall pick on him in 2006.

Whitner, one of the NFL's more media-aware players, has retweeted five links so far Monday, including a BuffaloRumblings.com poll that asks fans to choose their ideal starting strong safety: Atogwe, Sanders, Whinter or George Wilson, also a free-agent-to-be.

Another story Whitner linked was from National Football Post writer Matt Bowen, a seven-year NFL safety whose last year was spent in Buffalo when Whitner was a rookie.

Bowen named Buffalo the team that should most hotly pursue Sanders.

Bowen writes:

There is some interest on the part of the Bills. Buffalo has a player in safety Jarius Byrd who will go after the football, but they need another impact player at the position. Donte Whitner wasn't the play maker Buffalo envisioned when they made him a first round pick, and with his contract up, the Bills could look at Sanders to possibly slide into the secondary in 2011. The question for defensive coordinator George Edwards would be where to play him: at free or strong.


Buffalo's interest level, of course, will be commensurate with Sanders' -- or Atogwe's or anybody else's -- price tag. Sanders was a first-team All-Pro for the Indianapolis Colts in 2005 and 2007, but he has played only nine games the past three years.

Buffalo already has taken a gamble on outside linebacker Shawne Merriman with a contract predicated on whether he returns from the Achilles injury that ended his season. If the Bills were to roll the dice with Sanders, then they still should re-sign Wilson or another reliable veteran who can be trusted to play long stretches.
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http://espn.go.com/blog/afceast/post/_/id/26153/donte-whitner-monitoring-job-speculation
 
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