After years of mediocrity, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are enjoying a long period of constant success. With Tom Brady leading the charge, they were a perennial playoff threat, and they’ve made the switch to Baker Mayfield as smoothly as one could imagine.
They made the playoffs both years and had impressive performances each time. However, to take the next step, the team needs to make some tweaks. One analyst believes that change comes in the form of a player who’s become expendable in the span of just one year.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Predicted To Cut Dynamic Running Back
Just a year ago, Rachaad White was the topic of conversation in Florida as he had a monstrous season, tallying 990 rushing yards as the lead running back in Tampa, Fla. However, a year later, his stock has seen an almighty drop.
Not only has Bucky Irving emerged as the clear-cut best RB on the squad, but Sean Tucker’s emergence as a major threat makes White the odd man out. Aaron Schatz of ESPN believes the Buccaneers should look at their cap situation and move on from him.
“The Buccaneers enter free agency with only $2.2 million in cap space. They need to make some room, and one way to do it is to say goodbye to White. The running back is entering the final year of his rookie contract, so the Buccaneers can cut him for $3.3 million in cap savings with less than $250,000 in dead money.”
He believes Irving’s emergence as a major threat in the backfield will allow Tampa to focus on other areas of the team with the cap. As a result, the money allocated to White could be put to better use elsewhere.
Last year, they finished with the third-best offense in the league (according to PFSN’s Offense+ metric) despite injuries derailing the seasons of Chris Godwin, Mike Evans, and Cade Otton. With Mayfield continuing to get more comfortable in the system, Irving’s natural progression, and relatively better health across the roster, the squad’s need for White is diminishing.
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This season, he tallied just 613 rushing yards, far behind Irving’s 1,122. Moreover, his yards per attempt (4.3) was well behind Tucker (6.2) and Irving (5.4).
Schatz wrote, “White is still a useful player, but he gradually lost the No. 1 spot to Bucky Irving in 2024. White had positive rushing yards over expected, according to NFL Next Gen Stats, but he was far behind Irving.”
At the end of the day, the reasoning is as simple as it gets. “The Buccaneers need to save money somewhere, and this is where it wouldn’t hurt too much.”