Dallas Cowboys fans have spent all of 2022 clamoring for running back Tony Pollard to be the starting point guard instead of 2016 fourth overall pick Ezekiel Elliott.
There was good reason for that desire, too, given that Pollard’s 5.9 yards per touch led the NFL among 30 players with 200 or more touches that year. Fast forward to 2023, Elliott becomes a New England Patriot and Pollard is anointed the Cowboys’ RB1. The only problem was that Pollard suffered a fractured fibula during the 2022 NFC Divisional Round playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers. He still ended up playing all 17 regular season games in 2023 and in the Cowboys’ 2023 NFC Wild Card Round loss to the Green Bay Packers, but he was still clearly affected by the injury last season, as l ‘show its figures below.
The last two seasons of Tony Pollard
Door |
193 |
252 |
Cutting-edge construction sites |
1,007 |
1,005 |
Yards/Carry |
5.2 |
4.0 |
Rush TD |
9 |
6 |
Keys |
232 |
307 |
Melee yards | 1,378 | 1,316 |
Scrimmage/touchdown yards | 5.9* | 4.3** |
TD Scrum | 12 | 6 |
* Led the NFL
** 27th out of 34 players with over 200 hits
However, Pollard had more of an explosion in finishing carries in the back half of the season with his yards after contact per carry increasing to 3.2 from Weeks 11 to 18 after averaging 2.7 pre-contract yards per carry from the Weeks 1-10. It was clear that Week 11 with the Panthers was his turning point where he felt a little back to his old self when he scored a punishing 21-yard touchdown.
The Dallas franchise has marked Pollard for a fully guaranteed salary of $10.1 million in 2023, but this offseason the Cowboys will allow him to test the open market. They would like him to return to the team in 2024, but at a price they think is right.
“Tony had a great year last year. He’s another one of those guys, the type of player you want,” Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said Tuesday, according to DallasCowboys.com , during the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. “But it will ultimately come down to the business side of things in terms of what we can do for Tony.”
The 26-year-old Pro Bowl running back, who turns 27 on April 30, will have options, so let’s take a look at some potential landing spots as well as a prediction of where Pollard could be found.
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys are a natural landing spot for Pollard as he has played all five seasons of his career in Dallas since they selected him in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft. Playing with the reigning touchdown leader (quarterback Dak Prescott) and the league’s 2023 receiving leader (wide receiver CeeDee Lamb) create favorable light boxes for running backs: only 16% of pass rush attempts the Dallas team have occurred with eight or more defenders. the box near scrimmage to the line, the 10th lowest rate in the NFL.
This seems like a great spot for a running back.
Houston’s young core, led by 2023 Offensive Rookie of the Year quarterback CJ Stroud and 2023 Defensive Rookie of the Year defensive end Will Anderson Jr., is ready to take off. The Texans won the AFC South and a playoff game in their duo’s first season among the top three in the NFL. The Texans’ top two receivers, Nico Collins and Tank Dell, are also on rookie contracts.
That means the Texans have money to spend: Their effective cap hit of $66.3 million ranks fifth in the NFL, according to OverTheCap.com. Houston also has two of its top three running backs in free agency, in Devin Singletary and Dare Ogunbowale. Pollard sharing a backfield with Dameon Pierce, a player who wasn’t involved in the passing game a year ago (101 yards on 13 catches), gives him plenty of touchdown opportunities.
Offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, a disciple of San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, learned the role of playmaker from one of the best playmakers in the league who greatly appreciates the game race. The Texans would make a lot of sense for Pollard for a variety of reasons.
Like the Cowboys, the Eagles also have their 2023 starting running back test the open market in D’Andre Swift. Philadelphia also has a familiar face in Pollard leading its offense in 2024 in new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. Moore called playing in Dallas for the first four years of Pollard’s career, from 2019 to 2022. The Eagles have consistently been a solid ground team behind their strong offensive line, and that was the case in 2023: they ranked eighth in the league in rushing yards per game (128.8) and seventh in expected points added per game (0.38). .
Philly has an effective cap hit of $37.4 million this offseason, 11th in the NFL. The Eagles don’t typically give multi-year free agent contracts to running backs, but this could be a good place for Pollard to rebuild his value a full year after the fibula injury.
Prediction
Pollard signs a contract for his market value (projected by Spotrac), a two-year, $13.1 million contract (a little over $6.5 in average annual value), with the Houston Texans. Jones definitely has a clear line on how much the Cowboys would like to spend to retain him, and Pollard may not like that number.
Between the cap space Houston has and the possibility of major hits for a playoff contender, it’s an attractive spot for a running back. The Texans signed an offensive player that the Cowboys decided to let go a year ago, tight end Dalton Schultz. This offseason, Houston hired Pollard to move a few hours south.