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Rico Dowdle isn’t unfamiliar with this feeling.
But it’s still not what he necessarily expected, or hoped for.
On Sunday, as Carolina Panthers players packed up their lockers and met with their coaches, several soon-to-be free agents grappled with the feeling of uncertainty, of where they will be playing for the 2026 season. And Dowdle, the running back fresh off a 1,000-yard season, was among the most notable unrestricted free agents to be peppered with questions about his future.
He was thoughtful, and candid.
“For me, I just want to be a guy to go out there and get the bulk,” said Dowdle, who for his first season in Carolina finished with 236 carries for 1,076 yards and added 39 receptions for 297 yards. “Trying to let it run. Like I said, my game shows that the more I get throughout the game, the stronger and better I get. So I just want to take that into consideration from how it played out the past couple weeks.”
Dowdle acknowledged Saturday that he has been here before. He was a free agent last offseason after putting together a 1,000-plus yard season for the Dallas Cowboys.
He also said that some facts — like his dwindling production — didn’t come out of the blue. Such is the reality when you join a talented running back room. Dowdle signed a one-year deal with the Panthers in March; he joined a backfield with Chuba Hubbard, and the Panthers also drafted rookie Trevor Etienne a month later — and that’s not including Jonathon Brooks, who tore his ACL and was set to restart his NFL career in 2026.
Still, the A.C. Reynolds High School alum and former South Carolina Gamecock was honest when asked how he viewed his future on Sunday — and how his diminished role toward the end of the year impacted his desire to stay in Carolina or to go elsewhere.
After all, Dowdle broke out in late September as Hubbard was sidelined with an injury. His emergence rose a tide that lifted the Panthers’ offense: He took 23 carries for 206 yards in Week 5. He had 30 carries for 183 yards in Week 6. And his best performance of the year came in a two-touchdown day in his team’s upset over Green Bay, where Dowdle ran for 130 yards on 25 carries — and performed the infamous “two-pump celebration” that ended up doing a lot good off the field.
Then, slowly, his attempts declined a bit. Hubbard’s health and his expanded role contributed to it. But so did Dowdle’s relative lack of production when he was given chances. From Week 11 to the end of the season, Dowdle only averaged 3.22 yards per carry and never accumulated more than 59 yards in a single game. That compounded to even fewer touches. In the high-scoring playoff game Saturday against the Rams, he only ran the ball five times for 9 yards — his longest run on the day being 8 yards.
It left Dowdle in a strange place: He initiated incentives on his contract — including $1 million for cresting his scrimmage yards goal of 1,350 yards on the season — but he also was a bit discouraged by how his season ended.
When asked if he knows why his reps declined, Dowdle deadpanned: “No idea.”
Any explanation for that shift in role? “No,” he said.
Dowdle later expounded: “You definitely gotta take all of that into account, for sure. It is what it is. I can only control what I can control and go from there. But it definitely plays a factor. …
“When you got a lot of guys out there, making a decision is hard on the people upstairs. You know, from us as running backs, we can just control what we can control, go out there and put our best foot forward each day.”
When asked, head coach Dave Canales said he enjoyed working with Dowdle but was equally and understandably non-committal about the running back’s future in Carolina.
“These are all things we’re going to need to talk about over the next couple of days with (general manager Dan Morgan, executive vice president Brandt Tilis) and myself,” Canales said. “And the coaches included. We have to evaluate all the guys whose contracts are up and are free agents, and see what our next best move is.”
Here’s what else you should know from clean-out Sunday in the Panthers’ locker room.
Ejiro Evero will ‘100%’ be Panthers’ defensive coordinator next year
While Canales wasn’t ready to divulge anything about the futures of free agents, he was committal about his defensive coordinator.
When asked if the plan is for Ejiro Evero to return to Carolina in 2026, Canales didn’t hesitate.
“Absolutely, 100%,” Canales said.
Technically, Evero is not a “free agent.” A team spokesperson said that Evero signed a contract extension before the 2025 season; a league source confirmed that Evero is under contract through the 2027 season.
That decision has aged well. Fresh off a difficult 2024 — one in which the Panthers gave up the most points in NFL history — the Panthers made enormous strides as a defense in 2025, which included allowing 23 points per game (17th in the league) and a Top 15 passing defense (only allowing 209 yards per game), according to Team Rankings.
Canales said that building up the defensive fronts was huge for this 2026 season.
“The system is in place,” Canales said. “When we execute the system, it works. I coached against it for years and watched it continue to grow right in front of our eyes. And where it becomes special is our coaches’ abilities to help the guys connect with the guys, and then they gotta take it. …
“I saw a group playing really good ball down the stretch.”
Derrick Brown’s greatest reward for the 2025 season
Derrick Brown doesn’t mince words off the field. He’s also not one for subtly on it.
So, when Brown was asked about being left out of accolades like the Pro Bowl and All-Pro teams after a career year, the 2020 first-round pick didn’t hold back.
“If you don’t think I’m a good player, then I’ll see you on Sunday,” Brown said. “I mean, that’s the best I can tell you. If you don’t respect me, then s—, you’re gonna be in for a long game.”
Despite the lack of recognition for a season that saw him swat seven passes (most among defensive linemen this season) and produce five sacks (another career high), Brown is grateful he made it through the year unscathed. After missing all but one game in 2024 due to a meniscus injury, Brown has taken solace in his health throughout a bounce-back year for the defense.
“It’s one of those things where I look back on it — last year I didn’t get this opportunity to play ball,” Brown said. “So just to be able to come back, the greatest reward I have from this year is being able to play all 18 games and be available for this team. The personal aspect of it — yeah, you want personal awards, but I think there are so many people that trash on this team and this organization, that being able to make the playoffs was the greatest reward for me and this season. We want to bring playoff football back here.
“And people say, ‘You’ve got to leave this organization to be able to ever go win.’ So just to be able to slap those people in the face, that is what it is for me. My play is always going to be what it is. S—, if you don’t respect it, you better respect it come Sunday. … Yeah, it pisses me off (not being acknowledged), but somebody’s got to get it on Sunday.”
With Evero set to return, Brown and the defense will have built three years of equity in the system heading into 2026.
The NFC South was competitive throughout this past year’s campaign, but the longevity of the Panthers’ defense scheme could go a long way in Carolina’s hopes for repeating as division champs.
“I think the division is a good division,” Brown said. “Every single time we play, it’s a hard football game. It’s the running the ball — you’re not going to see as much passing, I feel like. I call it, like, old SEC football. Right? Like we know what we’re going to get. Going against Bijan (Robinson), Bucky (Irving), (Alvin) Kamara, there are so many different dynamic backs in this division that you’ve got to be prepared for them to run the ball. It’s an exciting division to be a part of. It might not be flashy at all times, but I feel like we have great opponents in this division.”
Austin Corbett punctuates whirlwind season with uncertain free agency ahead
Austin Corbett’s time in Carolina has been anything but ordinary. And 2025 might have been the most whirlwind campaign of his four-year tenure in Charlotte.
Corbett started the season as the top center on the depth chart. He suffered a notable knee injury in Week 2 and then was replaced by Cade Mays for the bulk of the season. When Corbett returned from injured reserve in Week 6, he was asked to start at left guard for a game before taking a reserve role. He eventually filled in as a starting center and right guard to end the year.
When asked about his future, Corbett was clear that he wanted to be back in Charlotte next season. But he also understands life in the NFL.
“(I) want to be back,” Corbett said. “This is why I came here: to be a part of something, to change the culture. … To be in the Bank last night, and to see what that was, that’s why I wanted to come here.”
He added: “I’m grateful for this whole organization. And we’ll see what it is.”
Back in December, Corbett said that he and his family wanted to settle down in Charlotte. But he feels like he has a lot of football left in him. He views himself as a starter, and as a pending free agent, he could look to go elsewhere for a better opportunity on the field.
After four years of personal and team struggles, the Panthers finally made it to the postseason. If Saturday was Corbett’s final game in process blue, he’s appreciative that the journey ended with a division title, he said.
Corbett is one of four impending unrestricted free agents on the offensive line. Mays is set to enter the opening as a starting-caliber center. Brady Christensen is coming off a season-ending Achilles injury, while swing tackle Yosh Nijman could be looking for a starting job after filling in admirably, at times, for Taylor Moton and Ickey Ekwonu, who suffered a ruptured patellar tendon on Saturday against the Rams.
With his future up in the air, Corbett is grateful to finish a season healthy for the first time in four seasons.
“The biggest thing this year is that I’m fully healthy going into this offseason,” Corbett said. “This is the first time since 2022 when I’m not working on anything. That’s just where the happiness comes from. I was talking to my wife last night, and there’s just a stress release of making it through a season.
“Had a little hiccup there. But we’re good. So enjoying that. The rest of the process will take care of itself.”
Bryce Young excited for 2026
Of the eight quarterbacks picked No. 1 since 2011, all have had their fifth-year options picked up. The stars seemed to point that way for Panthers quarterback Bryce Young, too, down the stretch of the season.
Yes, there hasn’t been any news on that front yet. NFL teams have until May 1, technically, to exercise the fifth-year option for players selected in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft — so that news could still be a long way away. (Young’s fifth-year option would amount to $26.5 million in 2027 if exercised, according to Over The Cap.)
But the general sense in the Panthers facility seems to be that Young has done enough to keep his future in Carolina bright. Canales indicated as much Saturday after the playoff game — calling Young brilliant against the Rams — as well as on Sunday.
As far as Young himself is concerned, he’s happy to continue building a program he considers “special” in Carolina.
“We know what we’re capable of,” Young said. “Again, it’s going to be about the work. … Everyone will get their time away from it now, but it’ll all (come to light) when we all come back in the offseason, and use (the playoff loss) as motivation.”
He added: “We gotta continue to build, continue to grow, and I’m excited for this group to do that.”
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Quick hits from Panthers coach Dave Canales
Here are some other notable things Canales said not addressed above:
- Canales said, as of now, he plans to continue to call plays on offense. He will evaluate his concepts and consider making tweaks to the playbook.
- Canales praised a trio of undrafted rookies: kicker Ryan Fitzgerald, cornerback Corey Thornton and linebacker Bam Martin-Scott. “Those guys worked their tails off to have opportunities, seized some opportunities, which gives me a lot of faith that they’ll continue to progress and that goes in with the entire rookie class.”
- Right guard Robert Hunt sustained a pectoral injury during the loss to the Rams. He was scheduled to have an MRI on Sunday to see the extent of the injury. Hunt returned on Saturday following mid-season biceps surgery. On Sunday, Hunt noted that he was 0-3 on the season in the three games he played.
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This story was originally published January 11, 2026 at 2:47 PM.
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Mike Kaye,Alex Zietlow
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