Rachaad White‘s playing time has fluctuated during his time with the Buccaneers. The fourth-year running back is not expected to return to a full-time starter’s role in 2025, something which will of course affect his free agent value for next spring.

White made eight starts as a rookie, setting him up to serve as Tampa Bay’s lead back the following year. 2023 produced a number of new career highs, including 1,539 scrimmage yards and a strong 64-549-3 receiving statline. After the former third-rounder averaged only 3.6 yards per carry, though, questions were raised about his ability to efficiently handle lead back duties.

Last season, White started 15 of his 16 appearances but his playing time fell over the course of the campaign. The emergence of rookie Bucky Irving cut heavily into White’s workload, as the latter totaled just nine carries across the final three games of the regular season. Irving has three years remaining on his rookie deal, but White’s will expire after the coming campaign. In the absence of extension talks, the possibility of a free agent departure looms, something he is acutely aware of.

“I’m ready to see what the year holds,” White said during an interview with RG.org’s DJ Siddiqi. “I’m coming into the last year of my deal, I’m ready to prove what I got and what I got going on. At the end of the day, you can only control what you can control. You have to go out there and prove it every day… I’m just going out with my mindset, just attack every day, show them who I am, and let the chips fall where they may.”

White averaged 4.3 yards per carry last year, by far the best mark of his career in that department. His drop in usage came about as Irving showcased his potential, however, and a further uptick in playing time for the Oregon product would leave White in place to operate as a backup. Such a scenario would hinder the 26-year-old’s value on a new Bucs pact or one sending him to a new team, so it will be interesting to see how he fares this year.

Under offensive coordinator Liam Coen, Tampa Bay experienced a strong resurgence on the ground in 2024 after years of struggling in that regard. Coen departed to take over head coaching duties with the Jaguars, leaving Josh Grizzard as the Buccaneers’ new OC. How his first season in that role plays out will be key in determining White’s future beyond 2025.

Coming off a season in which they ranked last in rushing, the Buccaneers did not bolster their backfield in the draft. Rachaad White remains on track to be Tampa Bay’s starter.

The Bucs are aiming to add a veteran to their backfield equation, per ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler, who indicated during a recent SportsCenter appearance (h/t Bleacher Report’s Erin Walsh) the team is seeking “an RB2” to work behind White. A 2022 third-round pick, White totaled 481 rushing yards (3.7 per carry) last season and minimized Leonard Fournette‘s role as the campaign progressed. The Bucs still 76.9 yards per game.

Tampa Bay released Fournette, a mutual separation, despite signing the former top-five pick to a three-year deal worth $21MM in 2022. Fournette remains unsigned. The Bucs were mentioned as an Ezekiel Elliott suitor in March; Elliott remains unsigned. While Fowler mentioned Elliott as a candidate to fill this role, a Cowboys return also remains on the table. That said, the Bucs did hire ex-Cowboys running backs coach Skip Peete this offseason. Peete worked with Elliott from 2020-22.

Chase Edmonds signed with the Bucs in March, coming over after the Broncos released their 2022 trade acquisition. But the team does not appear confident in the ex-Cardinal as its locked-in backup. Beyond Elliott and Fournette, the most obvious free agent to fit this job description is Kareem Hunt, a former rushing champion who spent three-plus seasons as Nick Chubb‘s top backup. Mark Ingram is also available, and the two-stint Saint is hoping to play a 13th NFL season.

If the Bucs ventured into the trade market, Dalvin Cook becomes an obvious name to monitor. The Vikings are open to trading their six-year starter, having re-signed backup Alexander Mattison. Cook is due a $10.4MM base salary, which would be a tough sell for a Bucs team that spent much of the offseason clearing cap space. The Bucs would need to make payroll adjustments with any backfield addition, considering they sit last in cap space (barely $600K) as of Tuesday. Going into his age-28 season, Cook would also be a clear candidate to start for his next team.

Bengals and Titans trade rumors — involving Joe Mixon and Derrick Henry, respectively — have died down, and they never took off after Austin Ekeler requested to be moved. Few teams are in the market for this position, but the Bucs appear prepared to make a move fairly soon.