Commanders To Add RB Rachaad White

With the Buccaneers adding Kenneth Gainwell, Rachaad White is on the move. He is heading to Washington, according to NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo.

The Arizona State alum will rejoin college teammate Jayden Daniels with the Commanders. The fifth-year running back is joining the Commanders on a one-year agreement, ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets.

White and Daniels overlapped with the Sun Devils from 2020-21. White did not play with likely Commanders target Brandon Aiyuk, who was Daniels’ teammate in 2019, as the running back spent time at two other schools — Division II Nebraska-Kearney and Mt. San Antonio Junior College — before arriving in Arizona.

Although Gainwell’s Tampa arrival to team with Bucky Irving ensured White would need to look elsewhere for his second contract, he expected as much well before the Bucs’ free agency decision. White pointed to a Tampa exit immediately after the team’s 2025 season ended. Supplanted by Irving as the Bucs’ starter in 2024, White was needed to return to his starting post last year due to the second-year back battling multiple injuries. But Tampa Bay did not with to continue with the Irving-White partnership in 2026.

White put together a promising 2023 season, amassing 1,539 scrimmage yards. Among RBs that year, White’s yardage total ranked fourth. Despite that impressive showing, White lost his job to Irving midway through the 2024 slate. The Bucs drafted the Oregon product in Round 4 in 2024, and the move changed their plans at RB. White maintained a role alongside the swiftly developing runner, but it became clear Irving was the team’s future at the position.

Washington lost Austin Ekeler to an Achilles tear in Week 2 of last season; that certainly hurt the team’s ability to involve its backs in the passing game. White has 11 career receiving touchdowns, and his strong 2023 season included 593 receiving yards. The 27-year-old RB presents an option to complement Jacory Croskey-Merritt, who totaled 805 rushing yards as a rookie but only 68 through the air. With Washington losing Chris Rodriguez to Jacksonville, Croskey-Merritt and White look like the team’s new top backfield tandem.

In Daniels’ final season with the Sun Devils (2021), White totaled 1,462 scrimmage yards (462 receiving) and 16 touchdowns. The elusive back parlayed that season into a third-round selection. It will be worth wondering if White’s ceiling in Washington is an RB2/pass-down option; he has a career 3.9-yard average per carry (as Irving outshined him when healthy). But Dan Quinn wanted to lean on the run more, with that being part of the reason behind Kliff Kingsbury‘s ouster. A 1-2 punch involving Croskey-Merritt and White would likely feature extensive work for both.