bv. SENSATIONAL: Forget Breece Hall, Chiefs’ TRUE “Sneaky” Gem Revealed – Unheralded Star Delivers 735 Yards, 5.6 YPC on Stunning $2.75 Million Contract!

The Kansas City Chiefs didn’t add a running back ahead of the NFL trade deadline despite coming close to a deal for Breece Hall of the New York Jets, which renders K.C. a primary candidate to hunt acquisitions at the position in free agency next March.

One player who makes complete sense is Rico Dowdle of the Carolina Panthers, who is having a an unexpected breakout year and likely won’t be back with his current team in 2026. Bill Barnwell of ESPN made a case for Carolina trading Dowdle to Kansas City ahead of the November 4 deadline.

“One way to solve the Panthers’ sudden logjam at running back would be to trade [Chuba] Hubbard or Dowdle to a contender,” Barnwell wrote October 30. “Dowdle has been the more productive RB in recent weeks, and coach Dave Canales signaled that he was expecting to lean more toward him going forward. But the franchise also gave Hubbard a contract extension last season and signed Dowdle for only one year. Trading Dowdle to a contender like the Chargers or Chiefs would probably be the right long-term decision, even if it wouldn’t be easy to sell to the fan base right now.”

Rico Dowdle Should Offer Chiefs Reasonably Affordable Upgrade Over Isiah Pacheco, Kareem Hunt

Dowdle, in his fifth NFL season, is averaging a career-best 5.6 yards per carry and has tallied 735 rushing yards along with 4 TDs on the ground. He’s also caught 15 passes for 132 yards and one score.

Making just $2.75 million in Carolina this season, Dowdle has proven one of the best bargains at the position in the entire league. Should Kansas City ink him to a deal next March, the annual average salary Dowdle can command may well take him out of the conversation of running backs offering the best value. However, he should be an upgrade over Isiah Pacheco and certainly Kareem Hunt given how they’ve performed this season.

Hunt can still bang around the goal line, but long gone are the days of leading the league in rushing, as he did with 1,327 yards during his rookie campaign in 2017. At this point, Hunt is a backup RB with situational value behind a more consistent and versatile starter.

Pacheco, a seventh-round pick out of Rutgers, is in the final year of his deal and bound for free agency next spring. He had two strong seasons to begin his career, but missed 10 regular-season games due to injury in 2024 and saw his per-carry average dip to a career-low mark of 3.7 yards.

He has been underwhelming this season, rushing for 329 yards and one score in eight contests and missed last week’s game against the Buffalo Bills with another injury. Dowdle has a lot more juice and will be hunting his first meaningful NFL contract during the offseason. He should still be semi-affordable given just one year of breakout production and the current market around the league for the running back position.

Chiefs Tipped Hand at Running Back Plans With Trade Attempt for Breece Hall

The Chiefs tipped their hand that they want an upgrade at RB and are looking to move on from Pacheco as their No. 1 option by attempting to trade for Hall ahead of the deadline.

Hall is a borderline top 1o RB this season based on overall production and will be a free agent in March. Spotrac projects his market value at $10.5 million annually over a new four-year contract, and the Chiefs would not have tried trading a mid-round draft pick for Hall if they didn’t intend on at least attempting to sign him longterm.

Kansas City ultimately didn’t close the deal based on a small disagreement with the Jets over compensation.

“According to a team source, the negotiations between the teams broke down over the compensation for Hall, who is in the final year of his rookie contract,” Nate Davis of ESPN reported Thursday. “The Chiefs offered a 2026 fourth-round pick for the 24-year-old, who the source says wanted to join another team after fellow teammates cornerback Sauce Gardner and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams were traded Tuesday. The Jets, though, wanted a 2026 third-round pick.”

Kansas City clearly intends to upgrade at running back in the near future, but wants to mitigate cost. Dowdle could prove the happiest of mediums.