{"id":11929,"date":"2024-12-18T02:28:07","date_gmt":"2024-12-18T02:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=11929"},"modified":"2024-12-18T02:28:07","modified_gmt":"2024-12-18T02:28:07","slug":"breaking-cowboys-urged-to-add-27-million-pro-bowler-to-replace-rico-dowdle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=11929","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Cowboys Urged to Add $27 Million Pro Bowler to Replace Rico Dowdle.."},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-1790263310-e1734465283846.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-1790263310-e1734465283846.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-1790263310-e1734465283846.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-1790263310-e1734465283846.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Cowboys RB Rico Dowdle\" width=\"780\" height=\"440\" data-img-load-time=\"183\" data-dom-ready-time=\"1062\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-post-image-caption-text\">Cowboys RB Rico Dowdle<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Just when you thought there was one area of the\u00a0Cowboys\u00a0roster that was, more or less, solved, here we go with the reminders that is not the case. Entering the season, the Cowboys\u2019 hole at running back was glaringly obvious, with\u00a0Tony Pollard\u00a0departing in free agency and the team failing to address the issue in the NFL draft.<\/p>\n<p>They also failed to address it in free agency, where\u00a0Derrick Henry\u00a0was said to be all but set to sign if the Cowboys made him a credible offer. No credible offer came, of course, and the Cowboys instead merely re-signed\u00a0Rico Dowdle\u00a0and brought back aged veteran\u00a0Ezekiel Elliott.<\/p>\n<p>You know how it played out. Elliott was, and is, washed up. Dowdle, though, has shown he can be a useful back, now at\u00a0880 yards over 13 games, with a considerable chance to break the 1,000-yard mark despite being underused early in the year. In Dowdle\u2019s last four games, he has 478 yards on 84 attempts, and for Dallas, when Dowdle rushes at least 19 times, the team is 4-0.<\/p>\n<p>Still, the Cowboys\u2019 miserly approach in the spring of 2024 will be costly in 2025, as they gave Dowdle only a one-year contract. He will be a free agent next spring, and will command much more than the\u00a0\u00a0$1.25 million he got\u00a0this season.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Najee Harris Has Been Consistent<\/h2>\n<p>Whether the team brings back Dowdle or not, it is clear that the NFL has shifted in recent years to put more of an emphasis on the running game\u2013which means the Cowboys will need to spend a bit more on the position than they have in the past.<\/p>\n<p>At Bleacher Report, the team is being advised to go after one of the top free-agents on the running-back market, Steelers star Najee Harris.<\/p>\n<div class=\"intersectionObserverRefElement\">\n<p class=\"\">The site writes: \u201cDallas 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"intersectionObserverRefElement\">\n<p class=\"\">\u201cHarris 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\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Cowboys Need to Make a RB Investment<\/h2>\n<p>Harris won\u2019t come cheap. While the Cowboys might be inclined to simply keep Dowdle and add a low-cost backup in free agency or the draft, there\u2019s the possibility that Dowdle will land a bigger offer elsewhere and necessitate the move for a player like Harris.<\/p>\n<p>At Spotrac, the market value for Harris is set at $9.3 million, with a\u00a0three-year, $27 million contract\u00a0projected in free agency. That might be undervalued, too, especially after teams like the Ravens with Henry, the Packers with Josh Jacobs and the Eagles with Saquon Barkley were all rewarded handsomely for investing in running backs in free agency last year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty Cowboys RB Rico Dowdle Just when you thought there was one area of the\u00a0Cowboys\u00a0roster that was, more or less, solved, here we go with the reminders&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11930,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hot-news","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BREAKING: Cowboys Urged to Add $27 Million Pro Bowler to Replace Rico Dowdle.. - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=11929\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: Cowboys Urged to Add $27 Million Pro Bowler to Replace Rico Dowdle.. - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getty Cowboys RB Rico Dowdle Just when you thought there was one area of the\u00a0Cowboys\u00a0roster that was, more or less, solved, here we go with the reminders...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=11929\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-12-18T02:28:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2-159.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"780\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=11929\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=11929\",\"name\":\"BREAKING: Cowboys Urged to Add $27 Million Pro Bowler to Replace Rico Dowdle.. - 24\/7 News America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=11929#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=11929#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2-159.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-18T02:28:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-18T02:28:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=11929#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=11929\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=11929#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2-159.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2-159.jpg\",\"width\":780,\"height\":440},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=11929#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"BREAKING: Cowboys Urged to Add $27 Million Pro Bowler to Replace Rico Dowdle..\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"24\/7 News America\",\"description\":\"Breaking Stories, Real Insights&quot;\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914\",\"name\":\"Admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"BREAKING: Cowboys Urged to Add $27 Million Pro Bowler to Replace Rico Dowdle.. - 24\/7 News America","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=11929","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"BREAKING: Cowboys Urged to Add $27 Million Pro Bowler to Replace Rico Dowdle.. - 24\/7 News America","og_description":"Getty Cowboys RB Rico Dowdle Just when you thought there was one area of the\u00a0Cowboys\u00a0roster that was, more or less, solved, here we go with the reminders...","og_url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=11929","og_site_name":"24\/7 News America","article_published_time":"2024-12-18T02:28:07+00:00","og_image":[{"width":780,"height":440,"url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2-159.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=11929","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=11929","name":"BREAKING: Cowboys Urged to Add $27 Million Pro Bowler to Replace Rico Dowdle.. - 24\/7 News America","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=11929#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=11929#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2-159.jpg","datePublished":"2024-12-18T02:28:07+00:00","dateModified":"2024-12-18T02:28:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=11929#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=11929"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=11929#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2-159.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2-159.jpg","width":780,"height":440},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=11929#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"BREAKING: Cowboys Urged to Add $27 Million Pro Bowler to Replace Rico Dowdle.."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/","name":"24\/7 News America","description":"Breaking Stories, Real Insights&quot;","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914","name":"Admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Admin"},"url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11929"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11929\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11931,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11929\/revisions\/11931"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}