FRISCO – One of the areas on the roster the Dallas Cowboys will need to prioritize through the offseason will be their backfield. Dallas struggled the majority of the season to find a consistent run game, a blemish that must change moving forward.

They entered the 2024 campaign focused on a two-pronged approach centered around Rico Dowdle and Ezekiel Elliott. Halfway through the season, Elliott essentially lost his spot in the rotation and that facet of the offense dialed in on the usage of Dowdle.

Dowdle reached 1,000 yards on the season and that remains a credit to his determination after grinding for an opportunity several years on the practice squad.

His successes make him a viable option for the Cowboys to bring him back, but a price too high could see him walk elsewhere in free agency. If that is the case, Dallas must either draft a running back or find one elsewhere across the league.

Immediately Ashton Jeanty comes to mind when thinking of draft prospects. The Frisco native comes off a record season at Boise State and is one of the highly touted offensive players in this year’s class.

If not through the draft, the Cowboys could trade for a running back. Spotrac’s Michael Ginnitti identified Breece Hall as a potential option as the New York Jets’ young star could be shopped this offseason.

“Running back appears to be one of the deeper positions on this Jets roster, setting them up to float Hall in trade discussions this March as they look to bulk up on draft picks for the pending rebuild,” he said. “Hall’s deal contains 2 years, $3.4M remaining, none of which is guaranteed.

Question: Would Cowboys fans rather trade for Hall, draft Jeanty or sign Rico?

Hall is certainly the type of player would want in their backfield, but it is hard to justify the ends by the means to get him. Dallas has already sacrificed draft capital to acquire receiver Jonathan Mingo and a move for Hall would likely require them to dig deeper into their assets to get a deal done.

That in conjunction with the money the Cowboys will need to utilize for maintaining their in-house talent makes any sort of deal hard to imagine.

Further, the Cowboys have rarely jumped on any sort of deal that sacrifices their most valuable capital in exchange for an elite known commodity around the league. A running back like Hall is not making an exception here.

Nonetheless, the Jets cap reality makes it a possibility they could move Hall to another team and likely a contender. That may not be the Cowboys, but Dallas will need to be ready to answer with moves of their own.