Rico Dowdle Contract Terms
The Pittsburgh Steelers are signing former Carolina Panthers standout running back Rico Dowdle to a two-year, $12.25 million deal, NFL Network reported Monday.
RELATED: See other important player moves here.
Fantasy Football Impact for Rico Dowdle with the Pittsburgh Steelers
As NFL.com's Grant Gordon noted, Dowdle departs Charlotte after just one season, but his second straight 1,000-yard season and looks to fill a void left by Kenneth Gainwell in Pittsburgh. Dowdle will also reunite with Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy, who was his head coach in Dallas, including in his breakout 2024 campaign.
Gainwell is signing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, leaving a spot for Dowdle to fill alongside Jaylen Warren.
Dowdle, who signed a one-year deal worth up to $6.25 million with Carolina last March, finished 2025 with 1,076 rushing yards.
His output varied along with his workload.
Dowdle averaged only 8.25 carries in his last four games after averaging 20 in the previous seven contests, including 30 carries in an Oct. 12 win over the Cowboys with Chuba Hubbard sidelined by a calf injury.
Hubbard missed consecutive starts with that injury, and Dowdle was featured in both games. He had 23 carries for 206 yards in a win against Miami, and then the 30 carries for 183 against Dallas.
Dowdle had 473 scrimmage yards, a two-game record for Carolina, during that stretch.
Nonetheless, head coach Dave Canales split the carries between Hubbard and Dowdle over the next two games. The rushing attack struggled in those outings, so Canales went back to Dowdle as the featured back.
He responded with 23 carries for 130 yards in an upset of the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.
Dowdle's reps steadily decreased, though he eventually cashed in on a $1 million bonus for reaching 1,350 scrimmage yards and another $250,000 for getting six touchdowns.
When asked if the decrease in reps impacted his free agency plans, Dowdle noted that his game gets better the more carries he gets.
"That definitely is a factor," he said. "There are options for me. I want to be a guy who can go out there and just get the bulk [of the carries]."
If getting the bulk of the carries didn't seem likely in Carolina with Hubbard signed through the 2028 season after getting a four-year, $33.2 million extension in November 2024, it's fair to wonder how much that changes in Pittsburgh.
Even with Kenneth Gainwell, the Steelers' team MVP last season, agreeing to terms on a two-year, $14 million deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dowdle joins a room that also includes Jaylen Warren and 2025 third-round pick Kaleb Johnson.
Dowdle isn't a one-for-one replacement for Gainwell.
The versatile Gainwell is prolific in the pass game -- he led the Steelers in receptions last season -- while at 6-foot and 215 pounds, Dowdle is a big, physical, and decisive runner.
Technically, Dowdle will be making slightly more money per year than Warren, who is entering the second year of a two-year, $11.9-million deal. It's unclear how the Steelers plan to split the roles among Dowdle, Warren, and second-year running back Kaleb Johnson.
But a split is coming, and given McCarthy's familiarity with Dowdle, it's fair to expect the newcomer to lead Pittsburgh's committee.
With that expectation, look for Dowdle's Footballguys projection, RB42, to rise.
