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.
I use to enjoy watching this team when they had Doug Martin as their lead rusher. They need another guy like him because it’s very difficult to beat defenses when your own offense is one dimensional.
Depends on that line. No one RB can help that. Bad luck O line last year