When the NFL season ends for teams, players who are pending free agents usually gush about how much they enjoyed playing for their current team and keep all of their options open when it comes to re-signing or exploring the open market.

For Bucs running Rachaad White, he is already charting his next move after hinting back in May that 2025 would be his “last ride” in Tampa Bay. White has taken to social media to share some telling words, images, and GIFs about what his future holds, one that is all but over with the only team he has called home.

Rachaad White Wants To Leave Bucs To Reunite With Jayden Daniels

Statistically speaking, Rachaad White was the best, most efficient running back for the Bucs this past season. White finished the season with 132 carries for 572 rushing yards and four touchdowns, finishing just 16 rushing yards behind Bucky Irving despite 41 less carries. The fourth-year back was a valuable part of the offense, seeing a lot of work on third downs as a pass catcher and pass protector for quarterback Baker Mayfield.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield and RB Rachaad White – Photo by: USA Today

After coming to Tampa Bay in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft, White spent a year behind Leonard Fournette before taking over as the starter in 2023 under offensive coordinator Dave Canales. He got frustratingly close to 1,000 rushing yards that season, finishing the year with a career-high 272 carries for 990 rushing yards and adding 64 catches for 549 yards. Still, the team added two more running backs into the mix between Sean Tucker and Irving, picking up Tucker as a coveted undrafted free agent in 2023 and drafting Irving in the fourth round in 2024.

White did not publicly admit it, but one could sense he wanted to remain a starter. That did not stop him from forming a close relationship with Irving, but it also pointed to 2025 being his last year with the team. Even after displaying an ability to rip off big runs and be the best fit for offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard’s run scheme, his usage sharply declined down the stretch after Irving returned to the lineup.

It comes as no surprise then that as soon as the year ended with the Bucs failing to make the playoffs, he took to X and Instagram in the above post to share his gratefulness, alluding to the fact that his time in Tampa Bay is over.

White then quoted a post of a picture of him together with Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels, while also changing his profile picture to the two of them playing at Arizona State. Their paths crossed with the Sun Devils for two seasons in 2020 and 2021, and White wants to be reunited with Daniels in Washington.

With that, White has wasted no time moving on from the Bucs and charting a course to head to the Commanders as a free agent. It will not be in March until he can officially head elsewhere, but it does give general manager Jason Licht and the front office time to find another running back.

Bucky Irving will remain the starter in 2026, with the hope being better health and interior offensive play will allow him to return to his 2024 form when he became a rookie sensation, averaging over five yards per carry. Sean Tucker continues to display promise and White’s departure could allow him to step into a more prominent role, but he is a restricted free agent. Fox Sports’ Greg Auman pointed to Tucker not likely being offered a tender, which would make him an unrestricted free agent.

Bucs RBs Sean Tucker and Rachaad White – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

There are a lot of variables to who joins Irving in the backfield next season. The future and fate of the entire coaching staff is currently up in the air, especially as it relates to head coach Todd Bowles and Josh Grizzard. That will dictate how the Bucs approach this offseason and which players are added and let go. While it is a stacked free agent class at running back, do not expect Rachaad White to return to Tampa Bay in 2026.