The Dallas Cowboys made a tough decision two years ago when they let Tony Pollard walk in free agency. While Pollard was a good player over his five years in Dallas, he had a somewhat disappointing final season in 2023 while playing on the franchise tag.
A Memphis native, Pollard returned home to Tennessee for $7.25 million per year that offseason and rewarded his hometown team with 1,079 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 4.2 yards per carry. Not elite efficiency by any stretch, but the Titans' passing game didn't do Pollard any favors
Despite a reasonably successful first year, Tennessee head coach Brian Callahan is looking to reduce Pollard's workload to keep him fresh for the entire schedule. That all but cements the Cowboys' fears about paying Pollard to be their long-term RB1.
The Cowboys were right about former RB Tony Pollard all along
"He was battling the second half of the year quite a bit," Callahan said of Pollard, via Titans writer Jim Wyatt. "But I think in a perfect world, it's a healthier division of labor. I think he ended up carrying the ball a lot. He was our most productive running back. And then Tyjae (Spears) had some injuries early, too. So, he ended up playing a lot early and then Tyjae sort of came on as the year went on further."
"So, I like really both of those players a lot. I think we can do a better job of managing that load so they both play a little more evenly and allows us to maybe have a spot for a third back between Julius (Chestnut) and Kalel (Mullings), some heavier style back and runner. So hopefully that division of labor gets a little more evenly distributed so he doesn't have to take the brunt of it. And we can get 17 games out of all those guys at their best"
More and more teams are adopting the running back-by-committee approach. RBs take arguably the biggest beating of any other position, so it makes sense to give qualified backups more touches in the name of keeping starters fresh for the end of the season.
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At the same time, Callahan's comments are exactly why Dallas let Pollard leave. While Pollard is a dynamic playmaker, could you imagine the outrage if he was making $7.25 million per year as a running back just to split carries with a former third-round pick?
The Titans even want former undrafted free agent Julius Chestnut and rookie sixth-round pick Kalel Mullings to get some run. That's not a great sign.
It's not even like Pollard received that many touches last season. His 260 carries ranked eighth among running backs. Six players had more than 300 carries and Pollard's 260 carries were just 25 more than Rico Dowdle, who didn't become the starter in Dallas until the halfway point.
The Cowboys got a front-row seat to Pollard handling a full workload in 2023. He had the backfield all to himself and finished with a career-low 4.0 yards per carry and a hair over 1,000 rushing yards despite playing all 17 games.
This front office gets a lot of flak for things they get wrong, but they were right not to pay Pollard since he already proved he's an overqualified rotation back.