Dallas signed Javonte Williams to a one-year, $3 million deal on Monday evening, and he immediately sits atop their depth chart given Rico Dowdle‘s unrestricted free-agent status. Still, this isn’t exactly a sizable investment in Williams, and there’s plenty of time before September for him to get usurped by another free-agent back or via the draft. Let’s dig into what to expect here.
JAVONTE WILLIAMS
- Williams had an interesting season in Denver last year. There was a stretch near the end of the season when he was literally exclusively a third-down back; he had zero carries in Week 17, while Jaleel McLaughlin and Audric Estime combined for 19. The Broncos took the fabled “hot hand approach” to new heights last season, often distributing their RB carries in a given game based on who was most productive on their first 2-3 touches of said game. Unfortunately, that was rarely Williams, as evidenced by his 3.7 yards-per-carry average (McLaughlin 4.4, Estime 4.1). Williams had 90 carries in Denver’s first eight games of the year and 49 over their final nine. He did lead them with seven carries in their playoff loss in Buffalo, but he largely fell out of favor as a runner as the year progressed.
- Williams quietly ranked eighth among RBs last season in target share (12.4%) and fifth in total targets. He’s had 53+ targets in all three healthy seasons (and had 22 in four games in 2022!) and can immediately fill the third-down role Dallas was desperately missing in 2024, so much so that Hunter Luepke was the designated pass-down back for most of the season.
- A $3 million investment doesn’t signal a hefty workload, but Dallas is currently completely devoid of other RB talent. This is one we will have to watch throughout the offseason — Dallas has the 12th overall pick and two Day 2 picks. If they take an RB with any of those picks, it torches Williams’ value. Still, the Cowboys did ride Dowdle despite minimal financial investment in him last year and could do the same with Williams.
- Even a Day 3 pick could challenge Williams quickly with a $3 million contract, but one would imagine a true competition leading into Week 1. Basically, Williams’ range of outcomes is massive. He could be completely irrelevant by Week 1 or in line for 15 touches on an offense that has been highly proficient over the last two seasons with Dak Prescott healthy. We’ll see who Dallas adds.
RICO DOWDLE
- Dowdle ran for 1,079 yards on 235 carries last year and may have played himself out of Dallas’ preferred price range. The Cowboys still didn’t trust him in clear passing situations last season and were frustratingly inconsistent with his goal-line role, but he asserted himself as a workable early-down runner between the 20s. His best-case scenario is likely as the 1A in a committee at this point. Running it back with Dallas would have been the best-case scenario for him, but that always seemed unlikely with DAL pinching pennies at the position.
