3 pending 2024 free agents Cowboys fans should worry about losing

The 2023-24 regular season is almost underway for the NFL, and that includes your Dallas Cowboys. Throughout this preseason, we saw a lot of action from the younger players and depth who may or may not be on the 53-man roster, and most look at who can help us this season.

But what about after this season? While the season that starts in less than two weeks is of utmost importance, its important to watch this talent throughout training camp and the preseason because some of those guys that you were watching may end up having bigger roles in 2024 because of two things: what they showed on the field, and where the players in front of them end up.

In this article, we focus on the latter. It may be early to think about next offseason, but this season will be huge regarding whether the team will retain a few of their key starters for future years or not.

3. RB Tony Pollard

One of the greatest weapons this Dallas offense had last season was franchise-tagged and is expected to have an even bigger role in 2023. Star running back Tony Pollard was a big topic of discussion going into this offseason for a few reasons.

He put up great numbers. He had almost 1400 yards from scrimmage, scored 12 touchdowns, and was third amongst running backs in yards per attempt with 5.2. He was a huge spark to the offense and was arguably the most explosive playmaker on the team.

Then, a fractured fibula and high ankle sprain suffered in the divisional loss to the San Francisco 49ers really made things interesting. Would the team really want to invest big money in running back coming off of a major injury? The last time they paid a running back top-tier money, it didn't go so well. If the front office learned anything from the Ezekiel Elliott era, then Pollard could very much so be out after this year.

Luckily, they get a chance to see how Pollard does this year before making that decision, but the outlook looks grim when it comes to getting something long-term done with him if he expects anything more than what he's getting paid this year.