Cowboys Offered Tony Pollard Contract; Why No Deal?

OXNARD, Calif. - With the July 17 deadline for franchise-tagged players to sign long-term deals having come and gone, Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Pollard will officially play this season on the dreaded tag.

However, it's not like the either side wanted to go into the season without a long-term deal in place. Leading up to the start of training camp this week, the Cowboys' brass has made it clear they would've preferred to have their star running back signed to a new extension, but were unable to make it work. Recently, Cowboys CEO Stephen Jones shed light on the earlier contract negotiations.

“We offered Tony a long-term deal, you know the same holds true for tight end, we offered [Dalton] Schultz a long-term deal, “ Jones said here at training camp in Oxnard, “We didn’t agree, the reason you don’t agree is they want more [money] and you want to pay a little bit less you agree to disagree and they go on and play under the tag.”

On the other hand, Jerry Jones, Cowboys owner and Stephen's father, offered a different perspective. The Cowboys colorful owner didn't deny offering Pollard a long-term deal, but felt the franchise tag was better suited for the situation.

“I think the franchise tag, when I think of it, probably fit that situation really well,” Jerry Jones said. “You distribute it [money from salary cap] as best you can and in this particular case I think it worked out well for Tony, that’s a lot of money.”

And what does Pollard himself say? "Everybody wants to get a deal done, but it was a progress for me," Pollard said. "So that's how I'm looking at it right now and just trying to be positive about things. … The situation is what it is, there’s no point in just keep bringing it up.

“At this point I'm here where my feet are. I'm at camp. So I'm ready to go."

Under the franchise tag, Pollard will make $10.091 million for the upcoming season. That's tied for the third-highest salary among running backs, along with Saquon Barkley (New York Giants) and Josh Jacobs (Las Vegas Raiders) who also received the franchise tag this offseason.

Pollard has been a quality back for Dallas, and is coming off his first 1,000-yard rushing season. However, the Cowboys are understandably hesitant to pay top dollar for a running back after the massive Ezekiel Elliott contract ended up not paying full dividends. That's to say nothing of the current state of the running back market league-wide, which may be at an all-time low.

In any case, what's done is done and Pollard and the Cowboys must now make the most of the situation.

You can find Jonathan Alfano on Twitter @JonAlfano_News

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