Cowboys must use all of their leverage in Tony Pollard negotiations ahead of NFL free agency
The Dallas Cowboys are no strangers to drawing out contract negotiations when they need to. Ahead of the 2024 NFL free agency, they should defer to such a tactic regarding one of their top pending FAs: running back Tony Pollard. Last year, Pollard played under an expensive franchise tag worth over $10 million and mostly […]
The Dallas Cowboys are no strangers to drawing out contract negotiations when they need to. Ahead of the 2024 NFL free agency, they should defer to such a tactic regarding one of their top pending FAs: running back Tony Pollard.
Last year, Pollard played under an expensive franchise tag worth over $10 million and mostly underwhelmed once shoved into the role of RB1 following the release of Ezekiel Elliott. He is highly unlikely to be tagged again. Now granted, Pollard isn't the lone responsible party for a mediocre running game as blocking and scheming didn't position him for success.
Even still, the Cowboys should've learned their lesson: Paying top money to running backs rarely ends up well. Optimal cap investment has shown offensive line plays a bigger role in rushing success.
But beyond that, the market conditions favor the Cowboys on this one. Free agency will be loaded with significant running back talent and there will plenty of solid Day 2 and Day 3 running back options in the 2024 NFL Draft. Last year, a similar thing happened with the tight ends and pretty much every free agent at the position signed for lower deals than expected. It's simply supply and demand at work here.
With this in mind, the Cowboys should only sign Pollard if it's a low-figure deal and not budge in negotiations. They should go running back by committee in 2024 and if that's the plan, paying a RB double-digits is a big no-no. Recently, Marcus Mosher shared an insightful chart on Twitter/X showing Super Bowl winning teams since 2009 have had their RB1 take 0.65% of the salary cap on average.
Running backs expected to hit the market
Below are the running backs expected to hit free agency in March and their respective projected average value per year according to our Top 105 free agent contract projections:
- Josh Jacobs – $12M
- Saquon Barkley – $10.5M
- Derrick Henry – $10M
- Tony Pollard – $7.5M
- Austin Ekeler – $4M
- Zack Moss – $3.75M
- A.J. Dillon – $3M
- D'Onta Foreman – $2.75M
- Antonio Gibson – $2.5M
Plus, there could very well be cap casualties around the league. In an article for NFL.com, Alvin Kamara, Aaron Jones, Nyheim Hines, and Nick Chubb were all named as candidates to be cut before free agency.
The Cowboys have been guilty of overdoing the long negotiation bit but when it comes to Pollard, it makes all the sense in the world to play hardball.
New Cowboys DC Mike Zimmer makes it sound like he wants to bring back All-Pro
Won’t be easy, though.
