Carolina Panthers general manager Dan Morgan has fired back at a seemingly disgruntled offensive weapon.
The Carolina Panthers were definitely a big surprise this season, winning the NFC South division title and giving the Los Angeles Rams a run in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs.
Now, the Panthers will enter a critical offseason full of important decisions, and one of those will involve what to do with impending free-agent running back Rico Dowdle.
Dowdle was a revelation for Carolina in 2025, racking up 1,076 yards and six touchdowns while averaging 4.6 yards per carry. He also hauled in 39 receptions for 297 yards and a score.
However, Dowdle's production decreased toward the end of the campaign, and his workload did with it. The 27-year-old was last seen carrying the ball just five times for nine yards against the Rams, and while speaking to reporters afterward, he made it clear his dip in touches would affect his decision in free agency.
That was apparently news to Panthers general manager Dan Morgan, who seemed taken back by Dowdle's assertion to the media.
“He didn’t give me any indication of that. I thought we left on a good note,” Morgan said, via Joseph Person of The Athletic. “We’ll see where it goes from here.”
Rico Dowdle. Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images.Dowdle signed a one-year, $2.75 million to join Carolina last March, a somewhat surprising move considering the Panthers already had Chuba Hubbard in their backfield and had handed Hubbard a four-year extension last November.
The move paid dividends, however, as Hubbard got hurt early in the season, which paved the way for Dowdle to step in and ignite Carolina's offense.
Of course, the Panthers seem likely to return to making Hubbard the lead back in 2026, and it's also important to remember they drafted Trevor Etienne — who showed flashes this past year — last spring.
Dowdle also seems primed to land a bigger contract on the open market, and even with Carolina having a decent chunk of cap space going into the offseason, the chances of the Panthers spending that much on a No. 2 back seem relatively slim.
The University of South Carolina product had previously spent the first five years of his career with the Dallas Cowboys between 2020 and 2024, where he played sparingly the first four seasons but broke out with a 1,000-yard campaign during his final season with the club.