Proposed 3-Team Trade Sees Bucs Send Dual-Threat RB to Chicago

The Buccaneers boast one of the best running back duos in the NFL with Bucky Irving and Rachaad White. Just last month, Bleacher Report’s Moe Moton ranked them No. 2, only behind the Lions‘ Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery. But, ESPN’s Seth Walder believes that one of the Bucs running backs could be on the move in a rare three-team NFL trade.

Trade Pitch Sends Rachaad White to Chicago for 2026 5th-Round Pick

While the Bucs appear content to stick with their two-headed monster in the backfield, it never hurts to see what the trade market is like for a productive 26-year-old back. There are several teams in need of running back help, but few are more desperate for production than the Bears.

Chicago finished 25th in the league in rushing last year, running for just four yards per carry. If you ask the Bears, I’m sure they’re confident that D’Andre Swift can turn things around this year. But, Walder noted an important factor that may contribute to this trade: Swift’s shocking lack of production.

“Swift posted a remarkably poor negative-174 rush yards over expectation, per NFL Next Gen Stats, which was the worst total of any player last season,” Walder wrote. “It marked the third season out of the past four in which Swift recorded negative rush yards over expectation; he posted negative first downs over expectation in all four of those seasons,” he continued.

On the other side of this trade, Rachaad White outperformed expectations, running for an extra 48 yards across 144 carries last season. In addition, their receiving averages across 17 games are nearly identical.

But, White has managed to reach the end zone 11 times in three seasons, while Swift has managed just eight touchdown catches across five seasons. Only one of those has come since he left Detroit in 2022.

Walder called White “elite in the passing game,” noting that his overall receiver score sits at No. 2 in the league. He trails only Christian McCaffrey and is just ahead of Austin Ekeler.

“That sounds like the kind of player Johnson could employ to great effect — like he did with Jahmyr Gibbs in Detroit,” Walder wrote.

Bucs Would Likely Need More to Part With White

While Walder seems to have mulled over the Chargers‘ portion of this trade the most, he reiterated that three-team trades are “just fun to project.”

“Just because we almost never see three-team trades in the NFL doesn’t mean they can’t happen,” Walder wrote.

There are always a lot of ifs involved when projecting possible trades, but the biggest one comes from Chicago. Walder wrote that “the major impetus” behind the deal would be Bears head coach Ben Johnson’s emphasis on the running game.

Johnson had the luxury of working with the “Sonic and Knuckles” duo of Gibbs and Montgomery in Detroit. But, there is a chance that “Swift simply isn’t good enough to carry that load,” Walder wrote.

On the Tampa Bay side, Walder called White “a useful player” for the Bucs. But, Bucky Irving “took the starting job from him and is a strong receiver in his own right.”

Despite Walder calling White “a logical trade candidate,” I don’t think the Bucs would be willing to split up such a dynamic duo for just a fifth-round pick.

With more weapons at wide receiver, the Bucs offense should be even more dangerous in 2025. If they can spread out their production through the air, it could open up even more running lanes behind a solid offensive line. Tristan Wirfs‘ injury could throw a wrench into that plan, but the rest of their linemen are solid run blockers who can open up lanes for both Irving and White.