Saints head coach Sean Payton gave a succinct answer on Wednesday when he was asked why the team signed wide receiver Kevin White this week.
Payton cited White’s “size and speed combination” as the reason for the team’s interest and that combination was also what led the Bears to take White with the seventh overall pick of the 2015 draft. No one has gotten much of a chance to see those traits on the field, however.
White missed his rookie season with a foot injury and only played 14 games over the next three years due to more injuries. He played three games for the 49ers last season, but only saw nine offensive snaps. That history doesn’t provide much reason to think White’s about to break out, but he’s appreciative of the chance to disprove that assessment.
“It means everything,” White said, via Rod Walker of the New Orleans Advocate. “Going on Year 7 and not really getting an opportunity, now that I’m healthy, I know a lot about the game and I know how the business works, I feel good. It means a lot that someone else gave me a chance to live out my dream and kinda prove myself right and everybody else wrong.”
White believes the disappointing start to his NFL career will prove to be “part of the journey that’s going to make the story a lot better” when all is said and done. The next couple of weeks will determine if the next chapter of that story will take place in New Orleans.