Roddy White says Kyle Shanahan wanted him out of the Falcons' offense

The Atlanta Falcons released wide receiver Roddy White on Wednesday after a year that saw the 34-year-old's production plummet. On Saturday, White spoke with ESPN while at UAB's alumni football game and opened up about his relationship with the Falcons, in particular offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan.

White was none too pleased about his reduced role in the offense and said that he expected his release, since "they showed no indication that I was going to be there." He hasn't talked to head coach Dan Quinn since the release, adding "I'm literally done with that situation."

But White saved his harshest words for Shanahan, as the two were never on the same page all season.

"What [Shanahan] expected from me and what I expected from him was totally different," White said. "I expected to play a bigger role in the offense, and that's what I wanted to do. But he didn't have that in his desires. He had other people that he wanted to play my role, so he wanted me to be out of the [offense]."

When asked if White tried voicing his concerns with Shanahan, White said, "Man, I talked to him just about every day about everything. But it's like, 'If I'm talking to you and it's not getting no better, what do you expect from me?'"

The Falcons started the season 6-1 and there was much praise for the way Shanahan turned around the offense. Things fell apart towards the end of the season, though, when Atlanta went on a 2-7 skid to finish 8-8 and miss the playoffs. White recorded just 43 catches for 506 yards and one touchdown, his lowest career totals since 2006.

White had a cap hit of $6.1 million entering the 2016 season. He seemed open to taking a pay cut to stay in Atlanta, but said the team's decision was never about the money.

"I don't think the money they were paying me was anything that had anything to do with the whole situation with them releasing me," he said. "That wasn't an issue at all. [General manager] Thomas [Dimitroff] kind of alluded to that, that [money] wasn't going to be an issue in whether they'd release me or not.

"The other guys felt I couldn't contribute to help the team win anymore, so they did what they had to do."

White is now 34 years old but believes he can play another two or three years. He's been rumored to reunite with former offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter in Tampa Bay, but wouldn't confirm or deny either way.

The entire interview is a recommend read here.

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