The era of running backs not mattering is over. Last offseason, Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, and Josh Jacobs all hit free agency, signed with good franchises, and had impressive performances in 2024. Barkley was obviously the biggest example, being the Offensive Player of the Year and winning a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Now, let’s be real. It’s not every year that players of this caliber will be available. This year’s class is not close to as strong at the top. Nonetheless, there are still several interesting options for teams that want to replicate what the Eagles, Baltimore Ravens, and Green Bay Packers did in 2024.

This is the second article in our series of the best free agents per position in 2025.

Aaron Jones, Minnesota Vikings

It's important to be careful about what production really means in the NFL. It's easy to see total yards, and Aaron Jones had a career year with the Minnesota Vikings (1,138 rushing yards and five touchdowns). But especially with running backs, you have to dig deeper. While the Green Bay Packers used to preserve Jones and limit his touches, the Vikings wanted to use him as much as possible, so he had a career high in carries and total touches. In terms of efficiency, though, he showed some signs of regression—a concerning factor for a 30-year-old player.

Nevertheless, Jones is still a positive starter. He averaged three yards after contact per attempt and a solid 19.1% breakaway rate. The veteran also adds value as a receiver, having 1.29 yards per route run in 2024.

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JK Dobbins, Los Angeles Chargers

Dobbins had a resurgence with the Chargers last year. But it's not because he had been bad at any point, it's just a crazy amount of injuries. Between 2021 and 2023, he had played only nine total games for the Baltimore Ravens—and was good when on the field.

Last season, he still handled knee injuries, but was able to play 13 games and finished the season with 1,058 scrimmage yards and 10 touchdowns.

Any team that is willing to make this bet should have a Plan B in place, but Dobbins can still be a high-end running back.

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Najee Harris, Pittsburgh Steelers

You won't find a player who achieved 1,200 scrimmage yards or more in each of his first four NFL seasons getting less love than Najee Harris. Yes, that's true, he surpassed 1,000 rushing yards and 1,200 scrimmage yards in each of his seasons, but that's mostly a product of the volume he had on the Steelers.

And that has value. The ability of the former first-round pick to carry a heavy workload and stay healthy is impactful, even though advanced stats will tell you how limited he might be.

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Nick Chubb, Cleveland Browns

There are two sides of the story with Nick Chubb. You might think he can go back to his glory days two years removed from his gruesome knee injury in 2023, or you can think that his lack of efficiency last year is here to stay for a player that will be 30 in December and has that injury history working against him.

Chubb was one of the most productive and effective backs in the league for most of this decade, and someone might still be willing to give him another chance to start for a low cost.

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Rico Dowdle, Dallas Cowboys

Dowdle finally had a chance to be a starter last year after four years as a backup on the Cowboys. He was fairly efficient and surpassed 1,000 rushing yards, being obviously better than Ezekiel Elliott throughout the year. Dowdle is probably not good enough to be a bellcow, but he is a viable starter and might be ideally suited to be a change-of-pace back being paired with a stronger and powerful runner.

Other options: Javonte Williams, Raheem Mostert, Jeff Wilson, AJ Dillon, Alexander Mattison, Ameer Abdullah

Quarterback market in free agency brings different types of players and values at the most important position in the NFL

Needy teams will have to evaluate age, production, and cost