Cowboys rumors: Pollard could default to return, Nightmare year incoming, Tyler Smith plan

Cowboys rumors: Tony Pollard could default to return

Tony Pollard played on the franchise tag in 2023 but it doesn't look like the Cowboys running back will get the tag used on him again.

Despite posting his second 1,000-yard season, he simply didn't look like a featured back. Paying a running back $10 million to average a career-low 4.0 yards per carry certainly wasn't what the Cowboys had in mind last year and they won't be willing to pay that premium in 2024.

In reality, Pollard is going to end up with a pay cut wherever he goes. ESPN has him in the fourth tier of free agent running backs with an average annual salary projection of $4 to $6 million.

With Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, Austin Ekeler, Josh Jacobs and D'Andre Swift on the market — and the likes of Nick Chubb, Aaron Jones, Alvin Kamara and Joe Mixon possibly joining them — there may be limited opportunities for Pollard.

So his best option might be to stay with Dallas.

The 2023 season was supposed to be Pollard's prove-it year but he may have still been slowed by his recovery from a fractured fibula in late in 2022. Signing a short-term deal with the Cowboys for 2024 would give him a second bite at the apple.