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The Dallas Cowboys are expected to place the franchise tag on pending free-agent running back Tony Pollard. And that means a big dollar number will be on the running back room for America’s team.
Pollard had an amazing season for Dallas in 2022, he totaled nearly 1,500 yards rushing and receiving and scored 12 total touchdowns as the only true game-breaking playmaker on the Cowboys offense.
Now after the 4-seasons on his rookie deal ended, he’s set to hit unrestricted free-agency and the team seems willing to do whatever it takes to keep him around, even if it means using the tag worth over $10 million for one season.
The other possible issue with tagging Tony Pollard is that he underwent surgery on his fractured left fibula, an injury he suffered in the playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers, but the good news are that he’s reportedly expected to be ready in time for Training Camp.
Tony Pollard is still faster #cowboys #vikings pic.twitter.com/UybEElNSQR
— berges.prod (@BergesProd) November 20, 2022
Ezekiel Elliott Is Coming Back
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones already publicly expressed that they want to bring Zeke Elliott back to Dallas next season, and Elliott is due to make $16.7 million in 2023. The means that once Pollard gets tagged, two players in the running back room for the Cowboys will be worth almost $30 million. That’s a lot, especially considering the two Super Bowl teams, Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles are paying less than $5 million total for their current running back rooms.
Zeke will reportedly take a pay-cut to stay with the team but he’ll still take a large amount of cap space by himself, so tagging Tony Pollard seems like investing a bit too much in that one position.