The Cowboys are going to have to figure out a plan at running back this season.
The Dallas Cowboys’ moves at running back, or really the lack thereof, were one of the major talking points in last year’s offseason. That topic continued through the season as players Dallas could have targeted like Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry ran over the NFL. In 2025, the Cowboys again have a big RB need, and there’s endless debate about how much they will and should be willing to spend to fill it.
Under Contract
Deuce Vaughn, Hunter Luepke (FB), Malik Davis
Potential Departures
Rico Dowdle
It feels like we’ve done a lap around the RB conversation and are right back where we started before the 2024 offseason. Tony Pollard was headed into free agency and there wasn’t anyone of consequence under contract. Once again, we find last season’s starter with an expiring contract and not much to speak of behind him.
The cupboard wasn’t as bare as most people thought a year ago. They didn’t realize that Rico Dowdle had a 1,000-yard season in him. Once he was finally given full RB1 treatment around Thanksgiving, Dowdle’s productivity soared. Had the Cowboys not gotten nostalgic with Ezekiel Elliott early in 2024, Dowdle might have finished as the NFL’s third-leading rusher behind Barkley and Henry.
But even without those extra yards, Dowdle still enters the 2025 free agent market with momentum. Though he turns 27 in June, he has relatively low NFL mileage. An all-around player with skills that suit most systems, Dowdle should attract plenty of interest. And with this being his first chance at free agency with some actual juice, Dowdle may want to see how that feels before agreeing to anything the Cowboys might offer.
Granted, many would like to see a more explosive, game-breaking runner in Dallas. But that requires an outside move as none of the current in-house options fit the bill. At best, Hunter Leupke and Deuce Vaughn are utility players. And while Malik Davis has his fans from the last few preseasons, he couldn’t even beat Dowdle for a roster spot.
Free Agency
While Dowdle won’t be the biggest name in the 2025 RB market, there isn’t a Barkley-level option out there for teams needing a new starter. Aaron Jones and Nick Chubb are the more accomplished prospective free agents, saddled with their own age and injury concerns. Dowdle falls more into the next tier with guys like J.K. Dobbins and Najee Harris.
Without any splash signing to be had, Dallas’ strategy may be to re-sign Dowdle or replace him with someone comparable. If the team believes it can maintain the kind of production that Dowdle had in the back portion of last season, they might take more of a “moneyball” approach at RB and focus cap dollars and draft picks on bolstering other parts of the offense. If Dowdle could be that productive with last year’s issues, imagine what could happen in stronger surroundings.
That said, the Cowboys were unwilling to pay the modest salaries that guys like Henry and Zack Moss got in last year’s market. With renewed appreciation for running backs after 2024, the prices aren’t going to get any lower. If Dallas is unwilling to cough up the cash to retain Dowdle or fill the spot with a veteran, then handling the position through the draft becomes more important.
2025 NFL Draft
It would be rather ironic if, after our year with the zombified version of Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas once again spent a first-round pick on a star college running back. But if Ashton Jeanty is available when we get to the 12th pick, that’s what many Cowboys fans want and many analysts believe will happen.
We’ll do a deeper dive into the idea of drafting Jeanty as we get closer to draft time. It’s important to note that this isn’t like 2016, when the Cowboys plopped Elliott into a ready-made rushing juggernaut behind Zack Martin, Travis Frederick, and Tyron Smith on the offensive line. Zeke was put in an ideal situation to flourish and carry the offense, but would Jeanty get the same chance to maximize his potential?
Remember, many would love to go back to 2016 and dump Elliott and Jaylon Smith for Jalen Ramsey and Derrick Henry. While some of that is hindsight, there was plenty of clamoring for Ramsey to be the pick over Zeke even leading up to that draft. It all comes down to your belief in where the RB position falls in the cause-and-effect spectrum.
That’s not to say the Cowboys shouldn’t consider a RB in this draft. It’s a great year with considerable depth right on through the later rounds. But unless some unusually big moves come in free agency, Dallas may be going into the draft needing a new starting WR, one more starter on the offensive line, and several different replacements on defense. Given what we got out of Dowdle with such minimal investment, there’s good reason to think a mid-round pick at RB could come in and duplicate or even upgrade that production.
Final Thoughts
Again, this feels like a full-circle moment at the RB position. The Cowboys are in a very similar position to last February, and now it’s a matter of if they adjust their offseason approach. If not, we’ll probably watch Rico Dowdle sign with a new team and see what Dallas pulls out of the NFL scrap pile.
At the very least, we’d expect the Cowboys to give RB more attention in this year’s draft. That won’t be hard given it received none in 2024. But it will be scary if Dowdle leaves and the team does nothing, even if it’s just adding a solid backup option, before they’re on the clock next April.
One major swing factor here, potentially, is the coaching change. Mike McCarthy never placed top priority on running backs but Brian Schottenheimer’s best NFL work has come in the ground game. If Dallas’ new head coach brings renewed appreciation for the position, that could easily influence how much attention it receives this spring.
