On Sunday, before the Los Angeles Rams hosted the Green Bay Packers at SoFi Stadium, reports surfaced of Tre’Davious White surprisingly being a healthy scratch. Being that White had started all four games at cornerback in Chris Shula’s defense through Weeks 1-4, seeing that he had not only been demoted, but wasn’t going to play at all definitely came as a shock.
Yet, after a 1-3 start, the Rams had to try something different, and benching White was a result of that decision. White signed with the team in April, inking a one-year, $4.25 million contract, so really, he needs to play well to cash in again. But apparently he took the news like a pro according to Sean McVay.
White hasn’t been excellent when he’s been in the lineup this season (more on that in a bit), but now some speculation suggests the decision to bench him may not entirely be due to poor performance.
Related: Latest Los Angeles Rams Snap Counts
Tre’Davious White’s salary is largely tied to playing time
It’s true that Tre’Davious White hasn’t played his best in a Los Angeles Rams uniform this season. According to Pro Football Focus, he’s been the 29th-worst cornerback in the NFL this season, earning a 50.2 grade. The advanced stats back this up.
No other cornerback in the NFL has allowed more touchdowns in coverage than White has (4). Only four cornerbacks have allowed a worse passer rating when targeted (147.8), and one of them got released on Monday.
Dallis Flowers last picture with the Colts. https://t.co/wkJXFY5PXi pic.twitter.com/edvDlVugBk
— Indy SportsOne (@IndySportsOne) October 7, 2024
In other words, the Rams had their reasons for benching White, wanting to see what Ahkello Witherspoon, Darious Williams, and undrafted rookie Josh Wallace could do in his place. Yet, now there’s some reason to believe the decision may have at least been partially financially motivated.
According to Jason of Over The Cap.com, White’s $4.2 million contract features a “good chunk” of the salary tied to the number of snaps he plays this season. Thus, deciding to make sure he didn’t receive any snaps in Week 5 may have contributed to him being a healthy scratch for the first time this season.
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
White can reportedly earn another $1 million from in-game bonuses and increase his total earnings from $4.25M to $8M if he plays in at least 60% of the defense’s snaps. But before his Week 5 deactivation, White had played in 98% of the team’s defensive snaps. That number shrunk down to 79.5% after Sunday, and his role from here on out could directly impact how much the Rams have to pay at the end of the year.
We’ll see if White gets back on the field after the Week 6 bye. The Las Vegas Raiders are up next on the Rams’ schedule.
Related: What We Learned From The Rams Loss To The Packers, Including A Cooper Kupp Injury Update