diff --git a/crates/net/network/src/peers/manager.rs b/crates/net/network/src/peers/manager.rs
index 57159cb19e..4210cb029e 100644
--- a/crates/net/network/src/peers/manager.rs
+++ b/crates/net/network/src/peers/manager.rs
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ pub struct PeersManager {
     /// Timestamp of the last time [Self::tick] was called.
     last_tick: Instant,
     /// Maximum number of backoff attempts before we give up on a peer and dropping.
-    max_backoff_count: u32,
+    max_backoff_count: u8,
     /// Tracks the connection state of the node
     net_connection_state: NetworkConnectionState,
 }
@@ -489,7 +489,7 @@ impl PeersManager {
                 if let Some(kind) = err.should_backoff() {
                     // Increment peer.backoff_counter
                     if kind.is_severe() {
-                        peer.severe_backoff_counter += 1;
+                        peer.severe_backoff_counter = peer.severe_backoff_counter.saturating_add(1);
                     }
 
                     let backoff_time =
@@ -902,7 +902,7 @@ pub struct Peer {
     /// Whether the peer is currently backed off.
     backed_off: bool,
     /// Counts number of times the peer was backed off due to a severe [BackoffKind].
-    severe_backoff_counter: u32,
+    severe_backoff_counter: u8,
 }
 
 // === impl Peer ===
@@ -1143,7 +1143,7 @@ pub struct PeersConfig {
     /// peer in the table is the sum of all backoffs (1h + 2h + 3h + 4h + 5h = 15h).
     ///
     /// Note: this does not apply to trusted peers.
-    pub max_backoff_count: u32,
+    pub max_backoff_count: u8,
     /// Basic nodes to connect to.
     #[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", serde(skip))]
     pub basic_nodes: HashSet<NodeRecord>,
@@ -1260,7 +1260,7 @@ impl PeersConfig {
     }
 
     /// Configures the max allowed backoff count.
-    pub fn with_max_backoff_count(mut self, max_backoff_count: u32) -> Self {
+    pub fn with_max_backoff_count(mut self, max_backoff_count: u8) -> Self {
         self.max_backoff_count = max_backoff_count;
         self
     }
@@ -1329,9 +1329,9 @@ impl PeerBackoffDurations {
     /// Returns the timestamp until which we should backoff.
     ///
     /// The Backoff duration is capped by the configured maximum backoff duration.
-    pub fn backoff_until(&self, kind: BackoffKind, backoff_counter: u32) -> std::time::Instant {
+    pub fn backoff_until(&self, kind: BackoffKind, backoff_counter: u8) -> std::time::Instant {
         let backoff_time = self.backoff(kind);
-        let backoff_time = backoff_time + backoff_time * backoff_counter;
+        let backoff_time = backoff_time + backoff_time * backoff_counter as u32;
         let now = std::time::Instant::now();
         now + backoff_time.min(self.max)
     }