Best Free Agent RBs Available: Packers Free Agent RB Targets With Potential Fantasy Football Value
With Josh Jacobs' future for the 2026 season cloudy, the Packers could turn to free agency to address the RB room. Who are the best available RBs on the market, and who makes the most sense for Green Bay?
The Packers are dominating headlines around the NFL world right now, and not for good reason. Star RB Josh Jacobs has been arrested, and it has immediately turned the masses’ attention to the lack of depth behind him in Green Bay.
With Chris Brooks and MarShawn Lloyd as the next men up, it’s very likely that the Packers will entertain outside help in a scenario where Jacobs misses time. While there’s a chance they make a move in the trade market, let’s dive into the best free agent RBs available and who the Packers should target with potential fantasy football value.
For the latest news on Josh Jacobs, catch up here.
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The Best Free Agent Running Backs Available with Fantasy Football Value
Najee Harris
We last saw Najee Harris in an incredibly brief stint with the Chargers after he signed a one-year, $5.25M guaranteed contract before last season. He was expected to serve as a tandem piece alongside rookie RB Omarion Hampton, but the Injury Gods had other plans. Harris ruptured his Achilles tendon in Week 3 after logging only 21% of the snaps so far on the season, missing the remainder of 2025. While Harris has had free agent visits (Raiders in March), he has yet to put pen to paper. The last time we saw Harris healthy, he posted four consecutive 1,000-yard seasons with the Steelers without missing a single game, albeit on underwhelming efficiency. He’s also shown upside in the passing game, recording 74 receptions on 94 targets as a rookie and at least 35 receptions in two of the three subsequent seasons.
He would provide the Packers with capable three-down upside, but it’s hard to ignore the lack of efficiency, especially coming off a torn Achilles tendon. With the Packers being a run-first team over the last few seasons, he would certainly have value as a potential low-end RB2 in the fantasy football rankings.
Joe Mixon
Mixon may be the most notable name on the market, but the ambiguity surrounding him over the last 12 or so months has been terrifying. He missed the entirety of the 2025 season with the Texans with what was described as a complicated foot and ankle injury that required offseason surgery last summer. No further details about the specifics of the injury are available, which causes a great deal of concern when taking a gamble on a player like Mixon. While we’ve seen him have spike seasons, efficiency has never been his strong suit (4.1 yards per attempt or worse in all but one season (2018, 4.9).
The last time we saw Mixon in action during the 2024 season with the Texans, he played in 14 games, totaling 1,016 yards on the ground with 11 touchdowns while adding another 309 yards through the air on 36 receptions. Approaching the dreaded age cliff (turns 30 in July), Mixon feels like a long shot to be wearing Green and Gold come September, and even if he does, he’s not someone I would have an interest in for fantasy football until we get a clear explanation on what’s been going on for the last year. This feels like the least likely outcome for the Packers, as my belief is that we've seen the last of Mixon on an NFL field.
Antonio Gibson
After tearing his ACL in Week 5 last season, Antonio Gibson was released by the Patriots in the offseason to save over $3M in cap. Still only 27, Gibson could have a couple of years of viability left in the tank, especially considering the lack of tread on the tires.
He’s never had more than 260 attempts in a season (2021), and that was actually the only season where he logged more than 170 carries. He’s shown upside in the passing game (40+ receptions in three of five full seasons) and has even shown upside on special teams, an area where the Packers have made a conscious effort to improve.
Gibson, as a Packer, would likely create a three-headed committee with Brooks and Lloyd, so it’s hard to get excited about his upside in fantasy football, but there could be spike-week upside as a late-round dart if the Packers go this route.
Austin Ekeler
If you’re picking up on the trend here, all of these top free-agent RBs are coming off of devastating injuries over the last year or so. Austin Ekeler is no different, as he tore his Achilles in Week 2 last season against, coincidentally, the Packers.
While Ekeler is on the wrong side of the age cliff (31), he still showed juice when we last saw him healthy, averaging 4.8 yards per carry in 12 games in 2024 and only posting two seasons below 4.4 yards per carry since 2017. He’s a dual-threat running back with an elite receiving background, but the key question remains—just how much does he have left in the tank?
An Ekeler signing would likely signal a committee approach for the Packers, similar to Gibson, but Ekeler has far more upside to run away with a bigger role if he’s truly healthy and able to show that Father Time hasn’t quite caught up with him yet. As a late-round dart, I’m much more interested in Ekeler than Gibson should he sign in Green Bay.
Nick Chubb
After back-to-back injury-plagued seasons with the Browns in 2023 and 2024, we actually saw Chubb return to action in 2025 with the Texans, as he played alongside rookie RB Woody Marks for 15 games. That said, he was a shell of the Nick Chubb that we’ve grown accustomed to. His 4.1 yards per carry were the second-lowest of his career after averaging 3.3 yards per carry in his final eight-game season with the Browns.
He did show usability, though, rushing for over 500 yards in the eight games he played. It wouldn’t be a sexy signing by any means, but he would be a floor-play in fantasy football with fringe FLEX value if he becomes a Packer, as his rushing style is much closer to Josh Jacobs than any of the aforementioned players.
More Packers Free Agent RB Targets
The list of free agent RBs is thin, to say the least. While there may be a lot of names, there’s very little substance. None of the five listed above instill much hope in terms of moving the needle immediately, but there are a number of other available running backs the Packers could consider in free agency, sorted by age:
- Raheem Mostert (34)
- Kareem Hunt (30)
- Dare Ogunbowale (32)
- Miles Sanders (29)
- Khalil Herbert (28)
- Trayveon Williams (28)
- Elijah Mitchell (28)
- Alexander Mattison (27)
- Zamir White (26)
- Cam Akers (26)
- Hassan Haskins (26)
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