Former first-round pick Kevin White has been bitten by the injury bug harder than almost any athlete over the past five years. On Wednesday, the Cardinals added insult to injury.
Kevin White‘s availability has been cut extremely short because of injuries. Wednesday’s events raise the question of whether or not his career is over.
Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Arizona Cardinals have parted ways with White after signing him to a one-year contract over the offseason. White was recently injured but, according to Schefter, his hamstring is no longer bothering him:
The seventh-overall selection in the 2015 NFL Draft, White had a lot of hype surrounding him coming out of West Virginia. Racking up 1,447 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns his senior season in college, his resume spoke for itself. With a 6-foot-3, 215-pound frame and an impressive 40-yard dash time of 4.35 seconds, the Bears were thrilled with the selection. That positivity didn’t last for long, though.
A stress fracture in his shin ended White’s rookie season before it began. Four games into the following year, another series of leg injuries ended his campaign prematurely. After fracturing his scapula in Week 1 of the 2017 season, hopes of White ever being healthy enough to flash the potential he showed in college became pipe dreams.
Last season, White appeared in just nine games for Chicago and caught four passes all year. Unsatisfied with his production and multiple years removed from using a first-round pick on him, general manager Ryan Pace elected to let White become a free agent ahead of the 2019 season.
The 27-year-old is now at a career crossroads after his stint in Arizona lasted five months. As teams’ roster battles heat up and final cuts are made en route to 53-man squads, will a franchise take a flyer on a receiver with tools?
Only time will tell. While White’s physical gifts are impressive, they aren’t much of a help if they can’t translate to the field.