Three big-name running backs still on the market

Some NFL running backs made pretty good money this offseason. Some didn’t. 

Some bigger names are still looking for work. Here are three you might’ve forgotten.

Cordarrelle Patterson

Drafted as a wide receiver by the Vikings in 2013, Patterson’s rushing career really didn’t get going until he joined the Falcons as a dual-threat weapon in 2021. That year, he put up 695 yards and six scores on the ground to go with 548 yards and five scores as a receiver.

Patterson took a backseat to rookie Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier with just 50 carries last season. But even at 33 years old, the four-time Pro Bowl, four-time All-Pro returner could still be an asset for an NFL team.

At 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, Patterson would look great in San Francisco as a complement to last year’s leading rusher, Christian McCaffrey. L.A. could be an option as well. Rams quarterback coach, Dave Ragone, was Patterson’s offensive coordinator in 2021 and could be pulling for him behind the scenes.

Kareem Hunt

Hunt and second-year running back Jerome Ford kept the Browns’ ground game afloat last season after Nick Chubb went down with a knee injury in Week 2. Ford outrushed Hunt by 402 yards, but Hunt was nearly unstoppable in the red zone with a career-high nine touchdowns.

However, after the signings of D'Onta Foreman and Nyheim Hines, Cleveland has no room for Hunt and surely can’t afford to pay him a projected $4.5M next season. He likely won’t see that much money from a contender, but if he takes a deal closer to the veteran minimum, teams like Bills, Cowboys and Panthers make sense.

J.K. Dobbins

If not for bad luck, the 25-year-old running back would have no luck at all. With 925 total yards and nine touchdowns as a rookie, Dobbins was on his way to becoming one of the NFL’s top running backs in 2020. 

Since then, a variety of injuries have kept the former Raven on the sidelines for 43 of a possible 67 regular season games. Dobbins missed all of 2021 with an ACL tear, nine more games in 2022 and all but one game in 2023 after tearing his Achilles in the season opener.

Still, his 5.8 yards-per-carry average looks pretty good on paper and could be worth the risk with a projected market value of $2.1M per year. Should any team lose a running back in minicamp or the preseason, Dobbins could get the first call.