Running back Rachaad White leaves Tampa Bay Buccaneers for Washington, reuniting with his former Arizona State quarterback Jayden Daniels.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers suffered a blow to their backfield Thursday, losing fourth-year running back Rachaad White, who signed a one-year deal with the Washington Commanders, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.
He reunites with Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels, as the two were former teammates at Arizona State.
White played in 67 career games with Tampa Bay, including 48 starts, rushing for 2,656 yards and 14 touchdowns. The former Sun Devil added 205 receptions for 1,450 yards and 11 receiving scores.
White's role had decreased over the past two years, since the arrival of the Bucs' current starting tailback, Bucky Irving. His split from Tampa Bay seemed inevitable following the disappointing end to this past season, which saw the Bucs' four-year reign as NFC South champions come to an end.
On Jan. 4, the Sunday when the Buccaneers were eliminated from postseason contention, White posted on on Instragram, "Uno out" with a prayer emoji, followed by, "Thank yaw forever for da past 4 years."
White played out his four seasons with the Bucs on his rookie contract after being selected in the third round of the 2022 draft.
His best season came in 2023, where White accumulated over 1,500 yards and nine total touchdowns. However, after Irving's arrival, he saw a stark decrease in carries and production.
Still, White produced when his number was called, actually posting back-to-back career high yards per carry with 4.3 in the past two seasons.
White joins a weakened Commanders backfield that lost Chris Rodriguez to the Jacksonville Jaguars earlier this week and Austin Ekeler to an Achilles injury in mid- September.
He bolsters a backfield that saw rookie Jacoby Croskey-Merritt carry most of the rushing load last season.
White also reunites with Daniels, who has had an impressive start to his NFL career. In 2024, Daniels completed 69 percent of his passes to set the league's rookie record, and rushed for 891 yards, another NFL record for rookie QBs.
After an NFC Conference Championship loss, Daniels was named Rookie of the Year. However, he had an injury-riddled sophomore season, appearing in just seven games.
White and Daniels formed a deadly pair at Arizona State in the 2020 season. In 15 games, White totaled 1,426 rushing yards, 20 rushing touchdowns and 51 receptions for 607 yards.
He was the first Arizona State player to lead the team in both rushing and receiving yards since 1949.
Reuniting with Daniels provides White with a signal caller he is comfortable with and a pathway to lead-back snaps.
ㅤ
Join our ROUNDTABLE community! It's free to join. Share your thoughts, engage with our Roundtable writers, and chat with fellow members.
Download the free Roundtable APP, and stay even more connected!