Once upon a time, not so long ago, yet a few regimes ago, the Las Vegas Raiders seemed to have someone emerge as a future piece of their offense. With Josh Jacobs injured and lined up to leave in free agency the following March, Zamir White got his chance. And he flourished.
Over the final four games of the 2023 NFL season, under then-interim head coach Antonio Pierce, White had 84 carries for 397 yards, which is 4.7 yards per carry, and a touchdown. In that stretch, he recorded two 100-yard games and devastated the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas Day.
However, White was unable to build on that momentum. Injuries were a factor in 2024, leading to just 65 carries for 183 yards over eight games. Any idea that a new regime would be better for him last season went away when Ashton Jeanty was drafted, and Raheem Mostert was signed in free agency.
Zamir White badly needs a change of scenery (and he'll get it, if he can find one)
White suited up in just six games last season, despite being healthy by all accounts. He tallied just 12 total carries, and 40 of the 62 offensive snaps that he played came in two games all the way back in Weeks 2 and 3.
While Pete Carroll and his staff made many miscalculations in terms of how to ideally deploy players, or lacked a healthy curiosity to see what some players had to offer as a losing season wore on, having no use for White doesn't stand out. And that says it all about him as he hits free agency.
There is a slim chance that teeters toward no chance that White be back in Silver and Black. In four NFL seasons, White hasn't shown himself, or had much of an opportunity to show himself, to be a capable running back, outside of a four-game stretch.
But he's a 26-year-old back with plenty of tread left on his tires (194 career carries) as he heads to the open market for the first time in his career. A level of intrigue about him could exist as he escapes what has been almost nothing but dysfunction during his career in Las Vegas.
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As ESPN's Aaron Schatz tried to find the Raiders player who needs a change of scenery the most this offseason, White was a fairly deep cut. But, somehow, he also lands as obvious.
"It just never quite worked out for White with the Raiders since they selected him in the fourth round in 2022," Schatz wrote. "White had only 17 carries for 70 yards as a rookie. In 2023, he managed 104 carries for 451 yards and a touchdown but finished near the bottom of my DVOA ratings because of a lack of explosive runs. He then tallied just 65 carries in 2024 and 12 carries in 2025, with less than 3 yards per carry in both seasons. But he might be able to resuscitate his career if there's another team looking for an early-down thumper in free agency to fill the bottom of the depth chart."
As No. 3 running back types go, there are some options who are less interesting than White. But there's absolutely a chance that he lingers available deep into the summer, before someone takes a flier on him and allows him to compete for a job in training camp.
If he is unable to win a roster spot on a new team or land on someone's practice squad, that could be a knockout blow to a career that's obviously already on the ropes. But he needs a change of scenery, and he's likely to get it. Let's hope, for him, that it's a good one.