3 possible Tony Pollard replacements Cowboys could sign in 2024 free agency

The Dallas Cowboys made the not-so-surprising decision to not extend Tony Pollard before Monday's deadline for franchise-tagged players.

Perhaps the biggest surprise leading up to the deadline was when NFL Network's Jane Slater reported that the Cowboys and Pollard never had extensive talks on a new contract.

That either means one of two things: Dallas never had concrete interest in investing more money into Pollard beyond 2022, or Pollard is happy making $10.09 million guaranteed coming off a serious injury and believes he's fully healthy and will cash in next offseason.

Will that be with the Cowboys, though? The franchise tag opens the door for Pollard to leave as an unrestricted free agent next offseason.

With that in mind, let's take a look at some early possible replacements Dallas could sign in free agency next March.

3. Devin Singletary

As somewhat of an unknown commodity, Singletary won't move the needle for some fans, but he compiled a solid season with Buffalo in 2022. While Singletary has never cracked the 1,000-yard threshold in four years, he's always been efficient with his touches, averaging 4.7 yards per carry in his career.

Singletary totaled 870 and 819 rushing yards, respectively, over the last two seasons. That's impressive when you consider Josh Allen is used as the Bills top rusher. Last year, Singletary fended off promising rookie James Cook, whom many analysts predicted to supplant Singletary as the lead back.

At 5-foot-7 and 203 pounds, Singletary is undersized for the position, but he runs bigger than his size, which catches defenders off-guard.

In 2022, the 2019 third-round pick received a 83.0 rushing grade from Pro Football Focus, which ranked ninth in the NFL. He forced 33 missed tackles, logged 21 explosive runs and averaged 2.85 yards after contact per attempt.

The Cowboys would need a complimentary back behind Singletary, but he'd be a sneaky good (and affordable) option to replace Pollard.