2025 NFL RB market: Top free agents, best team fits, projected deals for Aaron Jones, Nick Chubb, other vets

After the 2023 NFL offseason, it appeared the running back position was financially dead. Fast forward to today, and the running back position might be as back as it could be within the context of the pass-first game football has become. 

Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, who signed a three-year, $37.75 million deal last offseason, ran for over 2,000 yards en route to winning the 2024 NFL Offensive Player of the Year award and Super Bowl LIX. Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry, who signed a two-year, $16 million contract last offseason, ran for 1,921 yards in 2024, both the most in a a season ever to not win a rushing title and the most in NFL history by a player age 30 or older. Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs, who signed a four-year, $48 million contract last offseason, ran for 1,329 yards — the most by a Packer since Ahman Green in 2003. 

The engine for the 2024 Detroit Lions, the league’s No. 1 scoring offense (33.2 points per game), was running back Jahmyr Gibbs, who led the NFL with 20 scrimmage touchdowns, which was also a Detroit single-season franchise record. That’s pretty notable given that’s the team Pro Football Hall of Famer Barry Sanders suited up for during his 10-year career. 

With the NFL’s salary cap expected to jump by over $25 million this offseason, perhaps this offseason continues the trend of running backs getting a slightly larger piece of the pie in free agency. Here’s a look at some the best backs set to hit the open market as unrestricted free agents, plus their projected salaries — via Spotrac — and team fits. 

Running backs’ listed ages are as of Sept. 4, the opening night of the 2025 NFL season, and their seasons of experience include the upcoming 2025 season.

7. Kareem Hunt

Age: 30 | Season: 9th | Current Team: Kansas City Chiefs

Kareem Hunt was brought in during the 2024 season to be a stopgap for the injured Isiah Pacheco after Pacheco suffered a broken fibula in Week 2 this season, but he became one of the NFL’s most efficient rushers at age 29. 

A successful run is analytically defined by gaining at least 40% of the yards required on first down (4 yards on a first-and-10 for example), 60% of the yards required on second down and moving the chains for a first down on either a third- or fourth-down carry. The metric of rushing success rate is the amount of those successful runs divided by the overall number of rushing attempts a player has. Among 23 players who had at least 200 carries this pasts season, Hunt’s 55.5% rushing success rate on his exactly 200 carries for 728 yards and seven touchdowns is the third-best in the entire league.

Hunt may no longer be the bell cow back he was as a rookie in 2017, but he can be a nice complement for many offenses around the NFL.   

• Spotrac projected AAV: $1.2 million-$3.3 million
• Best team fits: Chiefs, Colts, Bengals, Bears

6. Javonte Williams

Age: 25 | Season: 5th | Current Team: Denver Broncos

Javonte Williams is still young, but his brutal knee injury, in which he tore his ACL and LCL in 2022, robbed him of developing into a game-changing running back. Williams’ 4.4 yards per touch across the last four seasons is the third-fewest in the NFL, minimum 750 touches, and ahead of only Ezekiel Elliott’s 4.1 yards per touch and Najee Harris’ 4.3 yards per touch in that span. He was the Broncos’ leading rusher last season with 513 yards and four rushing touchdowns on 139 carries (3.7 yards per carry) wasn’t anything to write home about. Maybe a team takes a swing on him with the hope that the farther removed he is from the knee injury that more of his juice will come back, but it doesn’t seem likely.  

• Spotrac projected AAV: $5.5 million-$8.3 million
• Best team fits: Jaguars, Rams, Browns, Raiders

5. Nick Chubb

Age: 29 | Season: 8th | Current Team: Cleveland Browns

Nick Chubb was on a Derrick Henry-like trajectory, but his body has betrayed him in each of the last two seasons. Chubb and Henry were the only players in the entire NFL with over 6,000 yards rushing and over 45 rushing touchdowns from 2018-2022, Chubb’s first five seasons in the league. There was a legitimate case to argue Chubb was the league’s top back entering the 2023 seasons, but that’s when the injuries began to hit. 

A torn MCL in 2023 and a broken foot in 2024 have derailed his shot at remaining in the top tier of players at his position. However, landing with a team with an established complementary running back or with a high-end quarterback and/or offensive line, Chubb could perhaps perform like a Pro Bowl running back for another season or two as he approaches age 30. 

• Spotrac projected AAV: $3.3 million-$7 million
• Best team fits: Browns, Steelers, Bengals, Chiefs, Chargers

4. J.K. Dobbins

Age: 26 | Season: 5th | Current Team: Los Angeles Chargers

The good news for J.K. Dobbins is he is fresh off the best season of his career, posting career bests in rushing yards (905), rushing touchdowns (9) and carries (195). Problem is the injury concerns with Dobbins are still there. He missed the 2021 season with a torn ACL, only played eight games in 2022 before needing a procedure to relieve knee tightness and tore his Achilles in Week 1 of the 2023 season. In 2024, a knee sprain forced him to miss four games from Weeks 13-16. 

Once he does get a head of steam, he can get going quickly: Dobbins’ 1.6 yards before contact per rush were the eighth-highest in the NFL last season among 31 running backs with at least 150 carries. 

• Spotrac projected AAV: $2.3 million-$3 million
• Best team fits: Chargers, Rams, Steelers

3. Najee Harris

Age: 27 | Season: 5th | Current Team: Pittsburgh Steelers

There’s only one player with 1,000 yards rushing in each of the last four years: Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris, a streak that spans Harris’ entire career. That surface-level counting stat looks great on first glance, but the underlying efficiency numbers are worrisome. Harris’ 4.3 yards-per-touch average across the last four seasons is the second-fewest in the NFL, minimum 750 touches, and ahead of only Ezekiel Elliott’s 4.1 yards per touch in that span. 

Harris is a durable runner, starting every one of his possible 68 games played during his career, and he doesn’t go down easy: his 80 tackles avoided in 2024 were tied for the fifth-most in the entire league. 

• Spotrac projected AAV: $7 million-$12 million
• Best team fits: Steelers, Browns, Raiders, Chiefs

2. Aaron Jones

Age: 30 | Season: 9th | Current Team: Minnesota Vikings

One of the biggest reasons the Green Bay Packers moved on from Aaron Jones in favor of Josh Jacobs was durability. Jones missed six games in 2023 and totaled the fewest yards rushing (656) since his rookie year in 2017 as a result. However, Jones had a fantastic bounce-back, spite season with the Minnesota Vikings in 2024: he totaled career highs in both rushing yards (1,138) and carries (255). 

Although when looking at his efficiency numbers as the season progresses, the getting-worn-down narrative still persists. Jones averaged 5.2 yards per carry in his first six games last season while averaging over a yarder fewer per carry (4.1) in the final 11 games of the year. Jones does remain one of the league’s most versatile backs, ranking in the top 10 among running backs in catches (51, tied for the eighth-most) and yards receiving (408, seventh-most). Jones still has plenty to offer a contender, but it would be beneficial to have a decent complement to spell him in order for him to be geared up for the playoffs. 

• Spotrac projected AAV: $6 million-$8 million
• Best team fits: Vikings, Packers, Rams, Chiefs

1. Rico Dowdle 

Age: 27 | Season: 5th | Current Team: Dallas Cowboys

Bell cow running backs used to have 300-carry seasons with regularity. There weren’t any 300-carry running backs in 2023, and they were six in 2024, a revival of sorts after there weren’t more than three in any season from 2011 to 2023. 

Why is that pertinent to the 2025 free agency class’ best running back value? Well, Dallas Cowboys running back Rico Dowdle will be an unrestricted free agent in March, and he has only 331 career carries since entering the league in 2020. There’s plenty of tread left on his tires. It is worth noting some of that lower volume has to do with battling through a broken hip in 2021 and an ankle injury in 2022 while being third on the Dallas depth chart behind Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard. 

Dowdle’s 2024 season showed he can be a team’s dependable, every-down back. He became the first running back in Cowboys history to rush for over 1,000 yards on the strength of being one of the NFL’s most efficient rushers. His 53.6% rushing success rate on 235 carries was the sixth-best in the NFL in 2024. 

Given his age and lower career volume, Dowdle has the potential to provide the most prime years of any running back on the open market this year. He’s a violent, downhill runner whose vision and pass-catching ability continue to improve with more reps. 

• Spotrac projected AAV: $3.8 million-$8.5 million
• Best team fits: Cowboys, Steelers, Broncos, Raiders, Chargers