This hasn't aged well.
Why Cowboys let Rico Dowdle leave for Panthers in free agency originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The let Rico Dowdle leave.
Now, they get to face him in Week 6 coming off a career day for the .
Dowdle stepped in as the Panthers' starter in Week 5 with Chuba Hubbard out. And all he did was run 23 times for 206 yards and a touchdown (with three catches for 28 yards, too).
He'll get the chance to see a hefty workload again in Week 6 against Dallas, a fun and quick turnaround revenge game for Dowdle.
The Dallas decision to let him go has aged interestingly so far.
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Why did the Cowboys let Rico Dowdle leave for the Panthers in free agency?
The Cowboys seemingly felt Dowdle couldn't repeat his 2024 production.
Last season, he carried the ball 235 times for 1,079 yards, a 4.6 yards per carry average. He also caught 39 passes for 249 yards. In total, Dowdle scored five touchdowns.
He had only run for 385 career yards dating to his rookie season in 2020, so it was a massive breakout.
And so, when the time came, the Cowboys let Dowdle leave in free agency.
Dowdle signed a one-year contract with Carolina for $6.25 million (although only $2.75 million in base value). Javonte Williams came to Dallas for one year and a base value of $3 million (and the Cowboys also added Miles Sanders and rookie Jaydon Blue).
The Cowboys are now without Sanders due to injury and have Williams and Blue atop their RB depth chart.
The Panthers, when Hubbard is out, have Trevor Etienne in additional to Dowdle.
So for this week, the Cowboys and Panthers will both be hoping their relatively short RB depth charts come through in this clash.
Category: Football
