The Carolina Panthers bolstered their backfield Wednesday, agreeing to a one-year contract with free agent running back Rico Dowdle, the team announced.
Sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter that Dowdle’s deal is worth $3 million but could grow to as much as $6.5 million.
Dowdle, who is from Asheville, North Carolina, and played at the University of South Carolina, is coming off a 1,000-yard season with the Dallas Cowboys.
With the Panthers, he will back up Chuba Hubbard, who was given a four-year, $33.2 million extension this past season, when he had a career-high 1,195 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns.
Dowdle will fill the spot left by Miles Sanders, who was released Tuesday after the two sides couldn’t reach an agreement on a contract restructure.
Carolina needed another proven back with 2024 second-round pick Jonathon Brooks rehabbing from ACL surgery to the same right knee he injured in college in November 2023. Brooks was expected to miss most, if not all, of the upcoming season.
The only other back on the roster was Emani Bailey, who has not appeared in an NFL game since the Kansas City Chiefs signed him last year as an undrafted rookie out of TCU.
Dowdle, 26, became the first undrafted running back in Cowboys history to eclipse 1,000 rushing yards in a season when he finished with 1,079 in 2024.
The Cowboys opened the season with a by-committee approach at running back, but turned to Dowdle over Ezekiel Elliott at the midway point of the season and he responded. He posted four 100-yard rushing games in a five-week period.
He became the first undrafted player with three straight games of 100-plus rushing yards since Arian Foster in 2014.
Former Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said Dowdle’s next step was to become an every-down back as he improved his blocking and pass catching. He caught 39 passes for 249 yards and three scores in 2024.
Injuries delayed his role in the offense with a hip injury forcing him to sit out the 2021 season and an ankle injury limiting him to five games in 2022. In 2023, he worked in a backfield with Tony Pollard and ran for 361 yards and two touchdowns on 89 carries after entering that season with seven carries for 24 yards in his career.
ESPN’s David Newton and Todd Archer contributed to this report.
Source: www.espn.com