Panthers get high marks from ESPN for adding 1,000-yard rusher in free agency

This offseason, the Carolina Panthers signed former Dallas Cowboys’ running back Rico Dowdle to a one-year deal. The team was 18th in the league this past season in rushing yards per game. Dowdle ran for 1,079 yards this past season. His new teammate, Chuba Hubbard, finished eighth in the league with 1,195 yards on the ground. The duo could make for quite the combination.

Earlier this week, ESPN’s Seth Walder handed out some free-agency grades in terms of additions and re-signings. With a little rethinking, he wound up giving nine deals either an “A” or an “A-minus” grade. In terms of Dowdle, general manager Dan Morgan earned the latter.

“If you told me before free agency that Dowdle had signed with Carolina and nothing else, I’d prepare to be quite critical. This is a team that burned a second-round selection on Jonathon Brooks in last year’s draft then signed Chuba Hubbard to an extension during the season. Why bring in another free agent running back? It turns out that there was a good reason: They got a bargain!

“Dowdle recorded 61 rush yards over expectation last season for the Cowboys, per NFL Next Gen Stats. That’s more than Aaron Jones (plus-41), Najee Harris (minus-3) or Javonte Williams (minus-83). Dowdle caught 39 passes for 249 yards (1 receiving yard over expectation) and was a shade above average in pass block win rate for a running back. But those are solid numbers—certainly better than those of Harris or Williams. Yet Harris got a couple of million dollars more, and Williams got Dowdle’s same contract from Dowdle’s old team.”

That’s a lot of numbers, but it makes a lot of sense. Walder would add a little more perspective in terms of what this deal could ultimately mean to the team.

“The Panthers are spending this offseason, which means they might not be spenders next offseason. As a result, they might give Dowdle some run this season, let him walk in free agency and pick up a late-round compensatory pick for him. This deal is cheap enough that they can think about that type of thing. Or it might be worth having Dowdle inked at this rate just to flip him at the deadline. A bargain is a bargain, and there are ways the Panthers can turn that into a little value, even if they didn’t need a running back.”

As a famous boss in another line of work once stated, “it’s not personal. It’s strictly business.”

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