FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Veteran running back James White has agreed to a one-year deal to remain with the New England Patriots, a league source told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
White, 29, has spent the first seven years of his career with the Patriots, who selected him in the fourth round of the 2014 draft out of Wisconsin.
A three-time Super Bowl champion, he is viewed as a top “passing back,” coming on to the field in obvious passing situations and those in which he might be more apt to block a blitzing linebacker.
He totaled 49 receptions in 2020, the second highest of any Patriots player, and has 269 regular-season receptions in his career. He has added 59 receptions in the postseason, with his signature performance coming in a Super Bowl LI victory over the Atlanta Falcons when he had a record 14 catches and scored three touchdowns, including the game winner in overtime.
A soft-spoken three-time Patriots captain, White has earned widespread respect and admiration across the NFL, with many rallying around him in September after his father, Tyrone, was killed in a car crash that also injured his mother, Lisa.
White’s return bolsters the Patriots’ running back position, which returns top option Damien Harris, along with 2018 first-round pick Sony Michel, second-year player J.J. Taylor and core special teamer Brandon Bolden.
“I can’t even put into words how much you can learn from a guy like James White. I really look up to him a lot,” Harris said in December. “James White is definitely a guy you can say, ‘Yeah, I want to be like James White when I grow up.”