Tennessee Titans running back Tony Pollard has been listed as a trade candidate to watch ahead of the Nov. 10 NFL trade deadline, which falls right after Week 9.

The trade market is already off to a hot start. The Dallas Cowboys made a move for Joey Porter Jr. with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Earlier in the week, the Minnesota Vikings shipped J.J. McCarthy to the New York Giants on Monday after he fell out of quarterback favor in Minneapolis. McCarthy now joins Jameis Winston in New York.

ESPN’s Dan Graziano went through 10 players who could be moved before the deadline. The headliner is Arizona Cardinals WR Marvin Harrison Jr., the 4th overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft. He has been about as underwhelming as a receiver drafted that high (with that Ohio State wide receiver lineage, no less) could possibly be through three seasons. Los Angeles Chargers’ Khalil Mack also makes sense with L.A. sitting at 0-3.

Then, quickly, Pollard’s name pops up.

Dan Graziano’s case for a Tony Pollard trade

Here’s what Graziano wrote about the Titans running back.

“The Titans have not looked good — Pollard sort of has, rushing for 173 yards at 4.6 per carry. He’s also 29 years old and making an affordable $6.74 million in the final year of his contract. Tennessee still has Tyjae Spears in the backfield, and the Titans drafted Penn State running back Nicholas Singleton in the fifth round of this year’s draft.”

“Running back is a position where teams endure significant attrition throughout the season, and Pollard is a veteran who could help fill a hole with a contender if the Titans fall out of contention as many expect. If he’s healthy and not in Tennessee’s long-term plans beyond this season, Pollard is the kind of player who could be on the move.”

Yes, it makes a lot of sense for somebody to call Tennessee about Pollard. An expiring contract, age 29, and he’s still producing in an offense that hasn’t been productive as a whole.

To me, the Titans have two different ways they could prove Graziano right . . . or prove him wrong.

Pollard is still the engine for Cam Ward

From the Titans’ perspective, the question is simple. What is the goal of this season?

Is it to collect as much draft capital as possible before the deadline? Or is it to make sure quarterback Cam Ward gets 17 games to prove he’s the quarterback of the now AND the future?

Obviously, it’s the latter. I think Pollard is a key part of that.

Don’t get me wrong, Spears flashes in certain situations. He ripped off an incredible 27-yard run on a third-and-22 draw against the Eagles in Week 2. He finished that game with seven carries for 41 yards, plus two catches for 29 yards. One of those was another 27-yard play at the end of the first half that set up a field goal before halftime.

Spears is a good secondary gadget player. I like him a lot.

But look at what worked for Tennessee in Week 3 against the Giants. It wasn’t Spears. He had three carries for five yards, while Pollard had 17 carries for 74 yards. Pollard added four catches for 22 yards, including an 18-yard catch and run to convert a third down on what was nearly the game-winning drive. Then Ward threw the interception that lost the game.

Pollard is still way too valuable to Ward’s development for the Titans to trade him.

Singleton might have a promising trajectory, but he’s a 5th-round rookie who struggles in pass protection. He has four carries for 10 yards, all on one drive against the Eagles in Week 2.

Five games before the deadline could change the math

Time exists for all of this to change. Spears is on an expiring rookie contract, and Pollard’s free agent deal ends after the season.

The Titans face the Ravens, Texans, Colts, the surprise 3-1 Browns, and the Bengals before the deadline, with a Week 9 bye right before it. That’s five chances for Graziano to be correct.

Could Tennessee lose four or all five? It will probably be an underdog in nearly every one. Sure, Houston is 0-3, but the Texans will be favored by a touchdown or so. The Titans looked like preseason favorites at home against Cleveland before the Browns decided to play good football behind Deshaun Watson. Tennessee is still favored in that one for now, but that line probably hasn’t been updated much.

It’s all hypothetical. It’s all speculation. Because of how bad the 0-3 start has been, there is a world where Pollard gets moved.

But Titans coach Robert Saleh said on Monday after the Giants loss that his team is just a few plays away from 2-1. If you believe that, why trade Pollard with five games left to win a couple and keep the season about Ward?

Regardless of Ward’s trajectory, Tennessee has to rebuild the running back room after this season one way or the other. I’d rather know for sure about the quarterback before rebuilding the backfield around him in 2027.