NFL Free Agency: 5 Best Running Backs Available In 2025

There have been questions lingering about the value of NFL running backs for a few years now. Contracts given to players at the position became smaller, and teams were saving money by not paying their backfields the same amount that they used to.

But things may have shifted last year. The two biggest off-season acquisitions in 2024 happened to be running backs, as Derrick Henry and Saquon Barkley became game changers for their new teams, with the latter helping the Eagles win the Super Bowl.

NFL Free Agency: 5 Best Running Backs Available In 2025

Could any of this year’s crop of running backs help in similar ways?

We take a look at the top five players free agents at the position for 2025:

1. Aaron Jones

It has been a long while since Aaron Jones led the NFL with 16 rushing touchdowns while playing for the Packers in 2019. But he is still a highly productive player, as evidenced by his one year playing for the Vikings this past season. He turned 30 years old during the 2024 campaign, but still managed to post 1,546 yards from scrimmage, the second most in his career, while adding 7 touchdowns and playing in all 17 games.

It is between Jones and Najee Harris for who is the best free agent running back this offseason. It is likely that Jones will be the one commanding a smaller payday, given that he is considered to be an older player for his position, and his next contract figures to be perhaps of the two-year variety.

Look for the Dallas Cowboys to show interest as they look to revamp their backfield for 2025 and beyond.

2. Najee Harris

Najee Harris has been a model of consistency during his four years in the NFL. He has never missed a game, playing and starting in all 17 of Pittsburgh’s games since 2021, and he has gained between 1,000 and 1,200 yards each season. In fact, his rushing yard totals in each of the past three years have come within 9 yards of each other.

He’ll be looking for a nice payday this off-season, and will be an attractive piece for a team that is willing to give out a long-term contract. With his combination of skills and younger age, he will likely be the running back that sets the market for the position, and could find himself signing for the highest annual value of any of the available players.

3. JK Dobbins

Dobbins was poised for a big season in 2023 before being derailed by an Achilles tear in his final year with the Baltimore Ravens. He signed a one-year deal with the Chargers last spring, and was one of the more productive backs in the NFL in the time that he was able to remain on the field.

But it was yet another injury that cut his season short in 2024, this time an MCL. He was averaging just under 70 rushing yards per game, and was able to eclipse 1,000 scrimmage yards despite playing in just 13 games and starting 11. He is still just 26 years old, the same as Harris, and could command a similar contract as well.

4. Raheem Mostert

Mostert is the elder statesman when it comes to free agent running backs, as the 33-year-old has 10 NFL seasons under his belt. But he is just one season removed from leading the league in total touchdowns when he scored 21 times in 2023, though he fell out of favor in Miami with the emergence of Devon Achane.

Speed has always been Mostert’s best attribute, and has been known to be one of the fastest weapons in one of the fastest offenses that we have seen in the NFL in some time. But his advancing age could become an issue in that respect, so don’t expect any team to sign him to anything more than a two-year deal when free agency kicks off.

5. Nick Chubb

Chubb has a “boom or bust” proposition attached to his name. He was considered one of the league’s best backs for the first five years of his career, and made four straight Pro Bowls and was a Second-Team All-Pro in 2022. But a gruesome injury derailed his budding career in 2023, and he would miss nearly 14 months of action while recovering from the torn MCL/damaged ACL ailment.

Should he be able to regain his form, Chubb would have the potential to again be one of the better running backs in the NFL. But that appears to be a tall task, as he was only able to muster 332 rushing yards in 8 games in 2024, while posting a 3.3 yards per carry average, by far the lowest of his career.