![\"Rachaad](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1863029250-e1775245080525.jpg\")
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Rachaad White. <\/p>\n
The Washington Commanders<\/a> gutted their depth at running back before the 2025 season even began by trading Brian Robinson Jr.<\/a> to the San Francisco 49ers<\/a> \u2014 leaving rookie Jacory Croskey-Merritt<\/a> and oft-injured veteran Austin Ekeler<\/a> to carry the load.<\/p>\n Ekeler, who was coming off 2 serious concussions in 2024, tore his Achilles tendon in Week 2, leaving just Croskey-Merritt to carry the load.\u00a0 Add in quarterback Jayden Daniels<\/a> \u2014 the team\u2019s actual best running threat \u2014 sitting out 10 games due to injuries, and the Commanders\u2019 running game was toast.<\/p>\n That shouldn\u2019t be a problem in 2026. Not only do the Commanders get Croskey-Merritt back after a bravura rookie campaign, but they also added arguably the NFL\u2019s top backup running back on a nothing deal, signing Rachaad White away from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/a> on a 1-year, $2 million contract.<\/p>\n Pro Football Focus singled out signing White<\/a> as 1 of their \u201cMost Favorite\u201d free agent contracts in the 2026 cycle.<\/p>\n \u201cWhite signed with the Commanders on a very cheap contract, as he will make just $2 million across one season,\u201d PFF\u2019s Zolton Buday wrote. \u201cHe was an above-average running back throughout his career in Tampa Bay, sidelined only because of the emergence of Bucky Irving. The\u00a0Arizona State product had a limited role in 2025, but he shone on his way to an 87.2 PFF rushing grade, which ranked fourth among all running backs.\u201d<\/p>\n Rachaad White Lost Tons of Money in 2025<\/p>\n White\u2019s frustration with his role in Tampa Bay\u2019s offense came to a head by the end of a disappointing 2025 season in which the Buccaneers went 8-9 overall and missed the playoffs for the 1st time since 2019.<\/p>\n Almost immediately following the season, White took to social media to express<\/a>, pretty clearly, that he was leaving. He may not have realized how much his value had plummeted<\/a> over the course of 17 games.<\/p>\n White had over 1,000 yards from scrimmage in 2023 and 2024, including a career-high 1,534 yards in 2023, but his numbers plummeted to a career-low 790 yards from scrimmage in 2025.<\/p>\n \u201cTeams shouldn\u2019t look to sign White as their RB1, but he\u2019ll make an excellent third-down option for many clubs,\u201d Bleacher Report\u2019s Alex Kay wrote on December 30<\/a>. \u201cExpect him to ink a modest contract, likely in the $7 million per year range, with a team that could maximize his talents as a receiving weapon. The Washington Commanders could be an intriguing landing spot for White. The back has a history with quarterback Jayden Daniels<\/a>\u2014playing together at Arizona State in 2021\u2014and could round out a backfield that has a promising young piece in Jacory Croskey-Merritt but is set to lose both\u00a0Austin Ekeler<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Jeremy McNichols<\/a>\u00a0this offseason.\u201d<\/p>\n Rachaad White Playing for Big-Time Money in 2027<\/p>\n The Commanders have another advantage with White in that they will get a player who has never been more motivated to perform at a high level \u2014 not that he wasn\u2019t before \u2014 but playing on a \u201cprove it\u201d contract for the 1st time in their career usually sparks something in a player.<\/p>\n If he wants inspiration, he can just look at 1 of the running backs in his own division. The Dallas Cowboys<\/a> signed Javonte Williams<\/a> to a 1-year, $3 million free-agent contract before the 2025 season.<\/p>\n After Williams reeled off a career-high 1,200 yards in 2025, the Cowboys brought him back on a 3-year, $24 million contract<\/a> \u2014 something not out of the realm of possibility for White in 2027.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tTony Adame<\/a> covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos. A veteran sports writer and editor since 2004, his work has been featured at Stadium Talk, Yardbarker, NW Florida Daily News and Pensacola News Journal. More about Tony Adame<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Commanders\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Rachaad White. The Washington Commanders gutted their depth at running back before…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":851895,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2069],"tags":[427,7,6,855,111,2480],"class_list":{"0":"post-851894","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-washington-commanders","8":"tag-commanders","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-washington","12":"tag-washington-commanders","13":"tag-washingtoncommanders"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116342652042966687","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=851894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851894\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/851895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=851894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=851894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=851894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}