Tre’Davious White was one of the Rams’ big-name signings this offseason, bringing in the former All-Pro cornerback on a one-year deal after his departure from the Bills. It was always a move that came with some risk due to his injury history and it has not worked out to this point.
In his first four games with the Rams, he allowed nine catches for 151 yards on 13 targets, giving up four touchdowns and a 147.8 passer rating in coverage. To make it even worse, he’s been flagged four times and had another penalty declined, as well.
Sean McVay and Chris Shula saw enough after last week’s loss to the Bears, deciding to bench the veteran cornerback in Week 5 against the Packers. He was a healthy scratch, something McVay called a “coaching decision” after the game.
It’s largely a performance-based decision, but there’s also a financial element to it. As Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap pointed out on X, White’s contract is incentive-heavy. He can earn up to $1 million in per-game bonuses and can increase the value of his deal from $4.25 million to $8.5 million if he plays at least 60% of the defensive snaps.
White has a good chunk of money tied to playtime this year. So I could see them being cautious until things improve
— Jason_OTC (@Jason_OTC) October 7, 2024
That incentive was likely put in as an injury precaution for the Rams, knowing White has suffered a torn ACL and Achilles in the last few years, but it turns out this is also a safety net for performance. Obviously, White won’t be able to play 60% of the defensive snaps if he’s on the bench and inactive on game days.
The decision to sit White in Week 5 doesn’t mean he’s guaranteed to be inactive for the rest of the season, but the Rams were clearly not thrilled with the way he played in the first four games and with Darious Williams back, opportunities could continue to be limited for White.
It was far from perfect from the Rams’ cornerbacks on Sunday but it was unquestionably an upgrade from what they had with White starting on the outside. Williams played well in limited action during his season debut, Witherspoon allowed one long reception and Cobie Durant had his best game yet while playing in the slot more.
Very simply, there may not be room for White to be a full-time player in Los Angeles anymore. That’s bad news for his chances of earning an extra $4.25 million, which could be a factor in this decision by the Rams to make him inactive.
They may not want to play him full-time in what could be a lost season, which would cost them an additional $4.25 million. If he were playing better, sure, there’d be no reason to bench him