As teams around the league begin cutting their roster down to 53 players, there are bound to be plenty of trades. The Chicago Bears will certainly have their eyes open as they continue building out their first roster under head coach Ben Johnson.
In 2024, general manager Ryan Poles acquired linebacker Darrell Taylor for a sixth-round pick before the season kicked off. Outside of his debut, in which he put up two sacks and a forced fumble, Taylor’s numbers weren’t remarkable with the Bears. He didn’t last long either, as he is now a member of the Houston Texans. Still, it’s an example of Poles’ willingness to fill Chicago’s roster via under-the-radar trades.
As the Bears prepare for their preseason finale, their running back position is still drawing plenty of questions. The team signed Royce Freeman, but he isn’t the full solution to success at the position. To help amplify Johnson’s new offense, Alex Kay of Bleacher Report suggests the Bears offer the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a 2026 fifth-round pick for running back Rachaad White.
While White has fallen out of favor with the Bucs due to the emergence of Bucky Irving, he is one of the NFL’s top pass-catching backs and should still have plenty left to offer as he gears up for his fourth season.
He’s well worth a fifth-round pick, a move that would cap off Chicago’s major offensive renovations and massively upgrade the backfield.
How Rachaad White affects Chicago Bears offense
With Bucky Irving’s emergence, White has fallen out of favor with the Buccaneers. Of course, that may not make him the most tantalizing trade target. However, for a fifth-round pick, there is still plenty that White could offer Chicago.
Over his three years in Tampa Bay, White turned 545 carries into 2,084 yards and 10 touchdowns. His best season came in 2023, when he set career-highs in attempts (272), yardage (990) and touchdowns (six). However, White averaged just 3.6 yards per carry, which is one of the reasons he was surpassed by Irving on the depth chart.
But alongside his work on the ground, White has proven to be efficient in the passing game as well. He has made 165 grabs for 1,232 yards and 11 touchdowns. Six of those scores came in 2024, proving the running back’s game hasn’t dropped off through the air. Furthermore, White has never had less than 50 receptions in a season, fairly high for a running back.
D’Andre Swift should get plenty of opportunities in the passing game as well. But White would offer the Bears a consistent threat in the passing game. They would form a one-two punch with Swift handling the earlier downs. Then Roschon Johnson could handle the goal-line work. Where that leaves rookie Kyle Monangai is unknown, but that would be true if the Bears added any impact running back.
Johnson and company will have one more preseason game to fully evaluate their roster. If they deem running back is still a problem, perhaps Poles puts in a call to the Buccaneers for White.
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