Recently, Pro Football Network looked at trade candidates for each team and, unsurprisingly, listed Rachaad White for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
He’s been a popular name to throw into these sorts of lists ahead of the draft, and really all offseason long, going from being a potential cap casualty to trade bait. None of that is new; instead, it’s the three teams mentioned as possible landing spots that stand out as notable.
Adding to the growing list of supposed landing spots for White are the Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Rams, and New England Patriots. These three teams join the Kansas City Chiefs as potential destinations for White if the Bucs end up trading him.
Keep in mind, none of these are actual reports, so don't get too nervous (or excited, depending on your feelings about White) when stuff like this gets tossed out. Just because it's not a report doesn't mean there isn't meat on the bone to chew on in terms of discussing whether a move makes sense.
It's been pretty clear from the Bucs side that trading White is both not something the front office is interested in and a move that doesn't make the team better. One thing that continuously gets conflated when rumors like this get kicked into the field of play is that saying White shouldn't be traded is somehow bad for Bucky Irving.
That's simply not true.
Buccaneers trading Rachaad White still doesn't make any sense
Bucky is going to be RB1 next year if all goes well, but removing White from the equation significantly weakens the backfield. That's also not a slight against Sean Tucker, who has started to emerge as a really great RB3 who rounds out an insane stable of talent.
Knowing that the stakes are as high as ever, and the Bucs have a new first-year offensive coordinator in Josh Grizzard, removing a key piece of the roster makes little sense. Sure the Bucs might be able to replace White in the draft but why mess with something that's working?
We can throw out potential destinations all day, and the ones mentioned in this latest blurb aren't bad options. Sean McVay getting his hands on White as part of his offense would be dangerous, the Patriots need an RB1 for Drake Maye, and Liam Coen is already very familiar with White from last year.
All of those moves make the teams getting White better, which is exactly why a trade doesn't make any sense for the Bucs. There's a chance he's gone next year, but it's better to simply cross that bridge when you get it rather than trying too hard to overthink things before you get there.
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