Cowboys Make Early Move to Sign Veteran Free-Agent RB

It’s been a confounding career in Dallas thus far for running back Malik Davis, who was a high school star at Jesuit High School in the Tampa area before moving on to Florida, where he played five seasons but was never able to really establish himself as a factor for the Gators. He was an All-SEC freshman team honoree, but a knee injury wiped out his next two seasons.

Still, Davis has talent, and it was enough to catch the eye of the Cowboys after he went undrafted in 2022.  He wound up making the practice squad that summer, impressing the staff with his reliability and instincts as a running back. When Rico Dowdle was hurt in his rookie year, Davis was called up to be the No. 3 back for the Cowboys, logging 161 yards on 38 attempts.

That’s been the pinnacle of Davis’s career, as he has not gotten much of a chance to impress the team since. Davis appeared in three games in 2023, and though he was on the practice squad last year, he did not play on the 53-man roster at all.

Despite the dearth of usage, though, the Cowboys want to keep Davis on board, and signed him to a futures contract on Friday.

Malik Davis Will Again Compete for Roster Spot

Citing a report from Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston, CBS sports noted that the Cowboys made the move on Davis.

The site added: “Davis spent the entire 2024 regular season on the Cowboys’ practice squad after failing to make the 53-man roster at the end of training camp in late August. He wasn’t elevated to the active roster for a single game, but he’ll stick around in Dallas and participate in offseason training programs to compete for a roster spot for the 2025 campaign.”

Cowboys Running Back Spot Needs More Depth

What the Cowboys do at running back will be one of the top aspects worth watching in the offseason for Dallas. The team made the controversial decision to decline to address the spot in free agency, not making a push for star back Derrick Henry, despite Henry’s professed desire to land in Dallas.

Instead, the Cowboys brought back free agent Rico Dowdle. The Cowboys doubled down on the running back mistakes by failing to address the position at all in the NFL draft, despite a number of productive backs—Bucky Irving, Braelon Allen among them—who were within the Cowboys’ draft range.

After passing on RBs in the draft, the Cowboys then turned to veteran retread Ezekiel Elliott to fill the role. Elliott, though, was clearly washed up this year and was released late in the season, before signing with the Chargers. Dowdle put forth a quality season (1,079 yards), but needs help.