The Dallas Cowboys made the bold decision not to re-sign Rico Dowdle in free agency. It marked the second straight offseason that they did not bring back their leading rusher.
Tony Pollard led the way in 2023 with 1,005 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 4.0 yards per carry. Pollard played under the franchise tag that year, so the Cowboys either would have had to tag him again at a higher cost or sign him to a multi-year extension.
Pollard wound up signing a three-year, $21.5 million deal with the Titans. Despite producing over 1,300 scrimmage yards and six scores last season, head coach Brian Callahan already wants to reduce Pollard's workload in 2025.
"In a perfect world, it's a healthier division of labor [between Pollard and Spears]," Callahan said, via ESPN. "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], a heavier style back and runner."
Cowboys already vindicated for not extending Tony Pollard in 2024
Callahan's vision for the Titans' backfield proves he doesn't view Pollard as a workhorse. That became evident in Pollard's final season with the Cowboys in 2023.
A fourth-round pick in 2019, Pollard's most efficient seasons came when he operated in a committee with Ezekiel Elliott. Pollard averaged 5.5 and 5.2 yards per carry in 2021 and 2022, respectively. While he logged 193 carries in 2022, Elliott still led the charge with 213 carries.
While Pollard was potentially hampered by offseason ankle surgery for the first half of the 2023 season, his efficiency plummeted to 4.0 yards per carry.
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In addition, his 2.92 yards after contact per attempt was comfortably the worst of his career and he produced 10 fewer explosive runs relative to 2022 on 58 fewer carries, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required).
It's no wonder Callahan wants to get Tyjae Spears more involved. A third-round pick in 2023, Spears was limited to five games last season due to injuries. Despite being in and out of the lineup, Spears carries a lot of momentum into 2025 after he scored four TDs in the final three games last season.
Obviously Pollard is a very good player. However, it can also be true that the Cowboys were right not to extend him last offseason.
Pollard was five years into his career at that point and barely managed 4.0 YPC in his first season as the bell-cow. Dak Prescott finished second second in MVP voting that year, so it's not like a limited passing game weighed him down.
The outrage in Dallas would be deafening if the team was paying Pollard $7.25 million per year just to split carries.