Did 'Madden 24' Give Cowboys' Tony Pollard Fair Rating?
This will be Tony Pollard's first season as the top running back on the depth chart of the Dallas Cowboys, but he's been seen as the team's best option out of the backfield by many for a while now. And his rating in "Madden NFL 24" reflects that.0
EA Sports will release this year's version of the "Madden" franchise on Aug. 15, and has begun to unveil player ratings. Pollard was given a rating of 88, which is ninth among all NFL running backs. Saquon Barkley of the New York Giants is the only NFC East rival with a higher ranking at the position, as he was rated at 93. Nick Chubb of the Cleveland Browns is the top-rated running back at 97:
On one hand, it feels like Pollard has a chance to climb even higher than 88 now that he's no longer splitting carries with Ezekiel Elliott. On the other hand, Pollard rushed for 1,007 yards in 2022, his first time topping 750 rushing yards in a season. The talent with the former fourth-round pick has been apparent in each of his first four seasons, but now the 26-year-old will finally get a shot to be the lead back for the Cowboys.
While Pollard's rating in the game will increase if he emerges as one of the NFL's best running backs in 2023, it's unclear what his future in Dallas will look like.
Pollard will make $10.091 million on the franchise tag this season. If the Cowboys wanted to place the franchise tag on Pollard again before the 2024 season, they would need to pay Pollard a 20% increase on his 2023 salary. Assuming Pollard isn't coming off of a broken leg next offseason, there's no certainty he would be as eager to sign his franchise tender as he was the first time around.
But as former Minnesota Vikings' running back Dalvin Cook is finding out right now, the free-agent market isn't especially eager to pay star players at the position approaching their late-20s. … so there's no guarantee Pollard would make more money than he would on a second franchise tag.
Pollard and running backs like Barkley and Josh Jacobs of the Las Vegas Raiders find themselves in a perplexing situation right now: they are among the biggest stars in the sport, but they aren't being compensated as such with so many capable players entering the league every season. So bottom line on Pollard: Enjoy him while you’ve got him signed.
You can follow Tim Kelly (@TimKellySports) on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
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