During the 2026 offseason, the New England Patriots were considered potential suitors for veteran running backs, including Rachaad White and Austin Ekeler, to fill their RB3 role.
However, the team ultimately opted not to add any of these players and instead chose to round out their backfield by selecting Alabama running back Jam Miller in the seventh round of the 2026 NFL Draft.
New England may now regret not adding a veteran to the back end of their depth chart at this position, as Miller failed to make the final 53-man roster, forcing the team to turn to the trade market and acquire running back Corey Kiner from the Arizona Cardinals just before the regular season began.
With Kiner having so far failed to make much of an impact during his Patriots tenure (14 carries for 29 yards and a 2.1 YPA), the franchise recently worked out veteran ball-carrier Jamaal Williams, who led the NFL in rushing touchdowns during the 2022 campaign, but has not played an NFL snap since 2024.
The Patriots had RB Jamaal Williams in for a workout.
— Jack Aylmer (@Jack_Aylmer) October 7, 2026
Last played in the NFL in ‘24. Totaled 1,069 carries for 4,122 and 32 TDs to go along with 187 catches for 1,310 yards and 8 TDs across 117 career regular season games. Led the league with 17 rushing TDs in ‘22. pic.twitter.com/8ftnU3gNSV
New England should have signed a veteran RB in the offseason
With a solid backfield tandem of Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson already in place, the Patriots didn’t need to pursue a major name in free agency, but adding a serviceable veteran who could step into a larger role should injuries hit the position would have been beneficial.
They should have inked either White or Ekeler, both of whom would have been cheap to bring in and, when called upon, this season.
After Antonio Gibson’s season-ending ACL tear last season, New England had to use practice squad elevations to fill that RB3 role for much of 2025. This made it surprising to see them become the last team to take a running back off the board in this year’s draft, waiting until their penultimate selection to pick Miller.
The Patriots then compounded matters by refusing to at least take a flyer on a veteran ball-carrier in the event their seventh-round rookie did not pan out.
Why White and Ekeler would have been solid fits for New England
During the 2026 campaign, White has carried the ball 22 times for 100 yards and caught nine passes (on nine targets) for 51 yards and a touchdown against the Washington Commanders. The former Tampa Bay Buccaneer has also returned three kickoffs for 97 yards, a total that would currently rank second on the Patriots.
An experienced pass-catcher out of the backfield, White recorded 115 catches for 942 yards and nine touchdowns from 2023 to 2024, and could have been an ideal change-of-pace back on this New England roster. White signed a one-year/$2 million deal this spring to join the Commanders, meaning it would have been a relatively minimal investment to bring him in.
Ekeler would have been an even cheaper option for the Patriots, as he remained unsigned until just this past week, but he already made his presence felt in his lone contest with the Commanders this year, logging four carries for 29 yards and an 11-yard catch.
The 2024 All-Pro second-team kick returner posted 900+ rushing yards and double-digit touchdown totals in 2021 and 2022, but a torn Achilles last season raised questions about how effective he’d be when he returns. Ekeler still appears to have something left in the tank, though, as he also drew interest from the Carolina Panthers before returning to Washington.
Could Jamaal Williams be a viable option for the Patriots at this stage?
This isn’t the first attempt by Williams at an NFL comeback this season, as Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell recently said the running back contacted him about potentially returning to the franchise, whose single-season rushing touchdown record he once set.
While the Patriots were likely just doing their due diligence by bringing him in for a workout, Williams looked sharp in recent training clips shared by NFL insider Jordan Schultz, who claims sources say he’s “in the best shape of his NFL career right now.”
A recent workout video of free-agent RB Jamaal Williams, who one source says is “in the best shape of his NFL career right now” at 220 pounds, the lightest he has been as an NFL player.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) October 7, 2026
The #Patriots brought him in for a workout Tuesday, and he’s expected to land with a team… pic.twitter.com/lo4c69LWOQ
Williams has been out of football since 2024, when he notched an underwhelming 48 carries for 164 yards and a score with the New Orleans Saints, though he appears to be serious about making his way back into the league.
Keeping tabs on the BYU product makes sense for a New England team that is one injury away from major depth problems at that spot.
Add us as a preferred source on Google