Roddy White deserves to be paid like a No. 1 receiver – he just doesn’t deserve to be paid like Larry Fitzgerald.

White, the Falcons best receiver and top playmaker, is currently in holdout mode in hopes of getting a new contract. He’s in the final year of his rookie deal that will pay him $2.28 million this season and if he can’t reach a contract agreement with the Falcons, he’ll be a restricted free agent next year since the owners are opting out of the collective bargaining agreement. (2010 is heading for an uncapped year.)

Last season, White hauled in 88 passes for 1,382 yards and seven touchdowns while helping to lead Atlanta to a miraculous playoff appearance. But when the Falcons opened their doors for training camp last Friday, White was nowhere to be found and is reportedly working out on his own in Alabama. Making matters worse for the Falcons, they just lost slot receiver Harry Douglas (who has been subbing for White during the holdout) for the season after he tore his ACL on Wednesday.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, contract talks between White and the Falcons have soured, with GM Thomas Dimitroff indicating that the holdout could go deep into camp. With White seeking a deal similar to what Fitz got (four years, $40 million), the Falcons may soon pull their offer off the table and make Roddy play out the final year of his contract.

This situation could have been avoided had White and his agent showed a little more trust and humility from the start. While White certainly has put up fantastic numbers these past two seasons (171 receptions, 2,584 yards, 13 TDs), he also shorted the Falcons during the first two years of his contract when he only caught 59 passes for a messily 952 yards and three touchdowns.

White and his agent shouldn’t be held over the coals for wanting to get a new deal done before the season starts. After all, NFL contracts aren’t guaranteed and if White had hurt himself like Douglas did, then the Falcons could have low-balled him when it came time to renew at the end of the season.

But what’s puzzling is that White was almost ran out of town because he couldn’t hang onto the ball in his first two years and now he’s holding the Falcons at gun point while seeking a new contract. Receivers typically don’t mature until their third season, but White barely showed even a flicker of promise in his first two years and many NFL pundits were ready to deem him a bust. Yet the Falcons stood by him and when Bobby Petrino brought his gimmick passing offense to Atlanta in 2007, White flourished.

So this is how White repays the team that stuck by him? By demanding a new contract after he barely filled the requirements for his first one? Again, I don’t blame White for seeking a new deal; after all, this is business. But he should have reported to camp and trusted that Dimitroff (the reigning NFL Executive of the Year mind you) would have gotten a deal worked out at some point during the year, just as he did for Michael Jenkins and Jonathan Babineaux in 2008.

Chances are, White would have received a fair deal that worked out for both him and the Falcons. Yet because of his arrogance and defiance, he’s pissing Dimitroff off and who knows when (or if) a deal will get worked out.

And in case you’ve forgotten, Dimitroff cut his teeth in the Patriots’ organization, so he’s going to bend to athletes forcing him to dole out a new contract. Even with Douglas’s injury, Dimitroff isn’t going to feel pressured to get a deal done with White and chances are, he’s already got a backup plan ready in case Roddy wants to continue his holdout well into the fall. (Although I will say that Dimitroff screwed the pooch by trading Laurent Robinson to the Rams for a couple of practice tees this offseason.)

The excitement bubble has just been burst for the Atlanta Falcons.

After being one of the NFL’s feel good stories in 2008, the Falcons are off to a bumpy start so far in 2009 as one of their top playmakers decided not to show up for camp because he’s upset about his contract.

Falcons wide receiver Roddy White, the 27th pick of the 2005 draft, was a no-show for the first team meeting Friday evening.

White was scheduled to report by 6:30 p.m., but he was not there, according to his agent. Players not present for the first meeting are considered “holdouts.”

A player holding out will be fined $17,000 per day, as determined by the collective bargaining agreement.

The Falcons have been in discussions with White’s representative, Jonathan Feinsod, about a contract extension. He confirmed that White wasn’t at the meeting but said “no comment” when asked to elaborate.

There’s no question that White deserves a pay raise. Over the past two years, he’s compiled 171 receptions, 2,584 yards and 13 touchdowns while emerging as one of the better young receivers in the game. He certainly deserves more than the $2.28 million he’s expected to receive in his final year of his rookie contract and the Falcons need to pay him to ensure Matt Ryan has his top playmaker in the passing game for years to come.

That said, I find it ironic that this is the same White who caught only 59 passes and three touchdowns in his first two seasons in the NFL and now he’s essentially ready to holdout for a new contract. Granted, most receivers don’t develop until their third year, but White was so bad that some were deeming him a bust after only his second season.

Again, White deserves a pay raise and the Falcons are likely to pay him…in due time. But it must tick the Falcons off that White is putting a damper on what should be an exciting time for Atlanta’s organization by bitching about a contract when quite frankly, he didn’t deserve whatever he was making in his first two seasons.

But I digress. The Falcons need to open their checkbook and pay the man. He’s worth the money given his age (27) and production over the last two years and again, Ryan is better with White in the lineup. I think it would have been better for all parties involved if White would have showed up to camp on time and let his contract situation play out on its own. But maybe this is just a scare tactic and he’ll show up in the next couple of days.

The Atlanta Falcons were one of the best stories in the NFL last year, as they rose from the depths of football hell and became a playoff team thanks to the roster construction of new GM Thomas Dimitroff, the guidance of new head coach Mike Smith, and the outstanding play of guys like Matt Ryan, Roddy White, Michael Turner and John Abraham.

But Dimitroff’s job is far from over and now he has the unenviable task of trying to make some of the current players financially happy. The first being White, who enters the final year of his rookie contract, and the other is Abraham, who some believe is searching for a new deal himself.

Dimitroff’s first priority should be White, who one would assume is seeking Greg Jennings-type money. The productive Packers’ wideout recently signed a three-year extension worth $27 million in base salary, as well as $16 million in guaranteed money. White is certainly worth that type of loot, especially considering he has emerged as one of the better receivers in the game and is clearly the Falcons’ best young playmaker.

Chances are, Atlanta will re-sign White before the season starts. There’s no reason to play hardball with their best receiver, especially considering how productive he has been over the last three seasons. With Michael Vick’s salary completely coming off the books after the 2009 season, the Falcons should have more than enough money to throw at White.

Abraham, however, could be a different story. When he was acquired via a trade from the Jets in 2006, he wound up signing a six-year, $45 million contract. The deal also included a $12.5 million signing bonus, but now NFL Network’s Steve Wyche is hearing “rumblings” that Abraham is seeking a new contract and while he won’t command Albert Haynesworth-type money, he might ask for what Jared Allen is making ($73.26 million over six years).

Granted, this is just a rumor and no other media outlet has confirmed Wyche’s report. But if Abraham does want a new deal, he might not have much leverage considered he’s 31 and is already set to make $5 million in 2009. He can be a one-man wrecking crew at times and as he went, so did the Falcons’ defense last year. But he seemingly is already being paid what he’s worth, so it’ll be interesting to see how the situation plays out.