It may be a lost season for the Dallas Cowboys, but the team is showing some fight down the stretch.
Winners of four of their last five, the Cowboys are reminding fans of some of the talent that dragged them to the postseason in each of the last three seasons. Head coach Mike McCarthy may still be on his way out, but the team is at least headed back in a winning direction.
Quarterback Dak Prescott will be back to lead the offense in 2025, but there are significant question marks elsewhere on the depth chart. Running back is at the top of that list, with both starter Rico Dowdle and backup Ezekiel Elliott scheduled to hit free agency.
After failing to address the position in free agency this past season, will the Cowboys finally add a quality ball-carrier heading into a pivotal 2025 campaign?
On Monday, Matt Holder of Bleacher Report predicted that the Cowboys would sign Najee Harris, a four-year starter for the Pittsburgh Steelers, to shore up their backfield for the 2025 season.
“Dallas entered this weekend averaging just 91.2 rushing yards per game, which is the fifth-fewest in the NFL. Lead backs Rico Dowdle and Ezekiel Elliott are both impending free agents in the offseason, so the front office will undoubtedly be in the running back market this spring,” Holder said.
“Harris is an intriguing option since he had over 1,000 rushing yards and 22 rushing touchdowns during the first three years of his career. In 2024, he’s averaging the second-highest yards per game (67.5) of his career and needs just 123 yards to break the quadruple-digit mark again. Plus, the former first-round pick will only be 27 in March.”
Though Harris hasn’t quite lived up to the promise of his first-round selection, he’s undeniably a quality NFL starter. The 6-foot-1, 241-pounder has 4,160 yards and 27 touchdowns during his Steelers career to this point.
Harris earned $13 million over the span of his rookie contract, and it’s tough to project how running backs will be paid in free agency after this year saw something of a resurgence at the position.
But the Cowboys, who have $22 million in projected 2025 cap space, should be able to fit Harris into the fold.
