2026 NFL free agency: RB market includes Breece Hall, Kenneth Walker, Travis Etienne

The NFL’s free agency period is now mere weeks away. Teams are gearing up to remake their rosters in an effort to chase down the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, who themselves have some free agents they may need to take care of this offseason. 

With the league soon set to see a ton of change, we wanted to take stock of where things stand right now. And to do that, we’re going position by position and previewing the available crop of players this offseason. 

My colleague Garrett Podell already took a look at the available quarterbacks this offseason. In the space below, we’re going to preview the best of the available running backs, breaking them down by tiers and trying to peg some of the best fits for their services and what salary range in which they might land. 

Without further ado…

Tier 1: Starters ($10-15M/year)

This trio of players is going to get paid in a pretty significant way. Especially after Javonte Williams came off the board with a three-year, $24 million deal to return to Dallas, it seems like the floor for these guys is double-digit millions per season. 

Hall is coming off his first career 1,000-yard rushing season, having gone for 1,065 yards in an atrocious Jets offense. He’s still just 24 years old until the end of May and he’s one of the most athletic and explosive backs in the league. In a better situation, he could shine. There are plenty of better situations than the Jets. But New York might use the franchise or transition tag to keep him around.

Walker is the reigning Super Bowl MVP and is coming off his second 1,000-yard season. Like Hall, he is extremely explosive, but he’s also somewhat inconsistent, with a lower success rate on his runs and his production mostly fueled by the big breakaways he can rip off. He won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but the teams that like him are going to really value what he brings to the table.

Etienne is fresh off his third 1,000-yard season in four years with Jacksonville, having successfully held off Bhaysul Tuten in the backfield despite many preseason predictions that he’d eventually cede the job to the rookie. He turned 27 years old already this offseason, though, and running backs tend to drop off when they hit their late-20s, so he might not have as much longevity left. 

Best fits: Jets, Seahawks, Jaguars, Chiefs, Texans, Saints, Cardinals

Tier 2: Committee guys ($3-8M/year)

Dowdle is coming off back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons in which he averaged 4.6 yards per carry each time. He also had 39 catches in each of those seasons. Almost all of his 2025 production came in a few-game span in October, though, and he averaged south of 4 yards per carry in his other games. Still, he could be the power component of a two-man backfield.

Gainwell notched career highs in rushes, yards, yards per carry, receptions and receiving yards in 2025. He was a huge part of the Steelers’ offense. He’s reliable in pass protection and the type of guy you want on the field on third downs, which is a big feather in his cap. He’s going to stick in the league for several more years due to his skill set. 

Allgeier showed as a rookie that he can be a 1A-type back, but has been the 1B over the last few years alongside Bijan Robinson. He wasn’t as effective on a per-carry basis this past season (3.6 yards per carry), but there are some situational usage factors to consider there. He could be a nice low-cost option that outperforms his deal, similar to Dowdle last season.

White is almost exclusively a third-down back at this point, but that type of player has value in the league. He’s a good pass catcher and a very good pass blocker, and that will help him stick around for quite a while — even if he doesn’t get paid on a big contract. As he gets older, though, his lack of special-teams contributions could become an issue because narrow-role players are pretty rare.

Robinson ran for over 700 yards in each of his first three seasons and hit 400 this past year, working behind Christian McCaffrey. He’s not going to be the lead in a committee, but can be part of a team’s backfield solution.

Vidal flashed, and at times in a big way, while filling in for the injured Omarion Hampton this past year. He ran for 643 yards on the season, but he did average only 4.1 yards per carry. That the Chargers trusted him in passing situations is a good sign of his ability to work in a committee. The Chargers have his exclusive rights as a free agent, so he probably isn’t going anywhere.

Best fits: Panthers, Steelers, Buccaneers, Chargers, Texans, Saints, Cardinals

Tier 3: Injured committee guys ($2-4M/year)

Dobbins suffered a season-ending foot injury in Week 10 after averaging 5.0 yards per carry for the Broncos. Based on that performance, he might ordinarily garner more money than this, but his injury history is so extensive at this point that it’s hard to see him getting more than a one-year, prove-it type of deal. 

Harris tore his Achilles early in Week 3 after having previously suffered an eye injury that limited him in training camp. Achilles injuries are usually the worst on running backs among all NFL positions, and Harris has never been the most effective runner to begin with. (His career high is 4.1 yards per carry.) But being a former first-round pick tends to keep guys employed. He’ll get a job somewhere.

Ekeler also tore his Achilles this season. He’s older (he’ll turn 31 in May) and has been slowing down for several years, but when healthy, he is a reliable third-down back and a well-known chemistry guy in the locker room. If he wants to play, there is probably a limited role for him out there.

Pacheco hasn’t been the same since the leg injury that cut his 2024 season short. He averaged 4.7 yards per carry in his first two seasons and just 3.8 per carry in the last two, seemingly losing his job to the corpse of Kareem Hunt last year. But two years removed from the injury, maybe there’s some team out there that thinks he can rediscover what made him effective early on.

Tier 4: Backups ($1-2M/year)

These guys are only varying degrees of interesting. The veterans are mostly ineffective at this point in their careers, with Carter probably the best bet for efficiency, Hunt the best at converting in short yardage and Chubb the most likely to fool people into thinking they can tap back into what made him so special earlier in his career, even though he clearly looked done this year. 

The restricted free agents are far more intriguing. 

Tucker has flashed high-level ability whenever given chances in Tampa, but he’s had Bucky Irving and Rachaad White in front of him, so those opportunities have been limited. Especially if the Bucs allow White to walk, they’ll probably bring Tucker back, but if they don’t, he is probably my favorite target out of this group. 

Mitchell is next on that list. He has electrifying speed, but has been in the backfield with Derrick Henry and Justice Hill, each of whom has a role he’s not really equipped to take over. But if you wanted to use Mitchell as the speed component of a committee and get him 8-10 touches per game, there could be some real juice to doing that. Alas, he’s restricted and probably not going anywhere.