Rico Dowdle Earns $1M Contract Bonus, Where Does He Rank Among 2026 Free-Agent RBs?

Rico Dowdle's excellent 2025 season ahead of free agency was already set to be a fruitful one, and it paid off even more on Saturday.

According to Spotrac, the Carolina Panthers running back earned a $1 million incentive for reaching 1,350 yards from scrimmage on the campaign.

He entered Saturday's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers needing just seven yards from scrimmage to reach the mark and cleared it in the third quarter.

That Dowdle's impressive showing this season came ahead of free agency makes it even more notable, as the 27-year-old could be in line for quite the contract. He is also part of a notable list of running backs who are scheduled for free agency ahead of the 2026 season.

Here are some of the top potential options:

1. Breece Hall
2. Kenneth Walker
3. Rico Dowdle
4. Travis Etienne
5. JK Dobbins

Ideally for Dowdle, he will generate more interest than he did last offseason.

Despite running for a then-career-best 1,079 yards in 2024 on the Dallas Cowboys, he had to settle for a one-year, $6.25 million deal with the Panthers. There was no long-term security with the contract, which could have been a testament to his lack of a track record.

The South Carolina product had never run for more than 361 yards in a season prior to 2024.

He also started this season behind Chuba Hubbard on Carolina's depth chart before breaking through with 206 yards and a touchdown on the ground in place of the injured starter during an Oct. 5 win over the Miami Dolphins.

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The rest was history, as he established himself as one of the Panthers' go-to options even after Hubbard returned to the field.

As a result, Dowdle has now surpassed 1,000 yards on the ground in two consecutive seasons. Those are also his only two seasons with more than 89 carries, meaning he doesn't have as much wear and tear as some of the other free agent running backs who could be available this offseason.

Perhaps that will lead to more of a long-term deal this offseason.