Not even Jerry Jones is crazy enough to do this, right?
The grit and physicality the Dallas Cowboys have displayed over the last several weeks suggests they can vault back into contention next year if their injury luck improves.
Better injury luck won't be the ultimate elixir, though. This season wasn't going anywhere before the injury bug swept the locker room. Jerry and Stephen Jones thought this roster could contend despite allowing a mass exodus in free agency and not replacing those players.
While several players have come on strong in the second half of the season the roster remains extremely top-heavy. If the Joneses intend on competing for a Super Bowl in 2025, they need to swallow their pride and spend money in free agency.
Cowboys fans know better than to expect a blockbuster offseason. Extending Micah Parsons and re-signing Jourdan Lewis and Osa Odighizuwa will cost a lot, but Dallas shouldn't stop there. They need help at a variety of positions.
Some would like to see Jerry Jones spend big on a running back after he bypassed Derrick Henry and others this year. This class isn't nearly as deep, but the folks over at Bleacher Report have circled one Najee Harris as a perfect fit.
Cowboys signing Najee Harris in free agency would be an unmitigated disaster
"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."
That is an impossibly weak argument for Dallas to sign Harris. While Harris is an accomplished player, running for 1,000 yards is very commonplace in today's NFL. Rico Dowdle wasn't declared the Cowboys' lead back until Week 9 and he's 97 yards away from 1k with two games left.
READ MORE: Cowboys RB Rico Dowdle reaches feat not seen in the NFL in a decade
Chuba Hubbard of the Panthers signed the last big-money RB extension. Hubbard got $8.3 million per year and $11.98 million fully guaranteed. Assuming Harris hits the market, he'll likely set a higher baseline because of his track record.
Dowdle, who's arguably the better player, will cost significantly less. As of this writing, he's fourth among RBs this season in rushing success rate (55.6%) and tied for sixth with 3.35 rushing yards after contact per carry.
Harris, meanwhile, ranks 36th at the position with a 43.7% rushing success rate. The league average is 49.3%. Additionally, Harris is 23rd with 2.89 yards after contact per rush. Whereas Dowdle is top-10 in yards per carry, Harris is 25th out of 28 qualified running backs, per PFF.
As if those aren't big enough red flags, Harris turns 27 in March and wil finish the year with more than 1,100 career carries. For context, Ezekiel Elliott had 1,169 carries on his tires after his fourth season. That is around the time that Elliott's efficiency fell off a cliff.
Signing Harris at market value would set the Cowboys back years. They would be better off re-signing Dowdle for $5-7 million per year and drafting a rookie on day two or three.
