'Time Bomb!' Cowboys' Tony Pollard To Learn 'It Sucks' Lesson?
In multiple ways, Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Pollard is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. Fresh off of a Pro Bowl campaign, Pollard is presently scheduled to be playing on a franchise tag this season ... and is expected to help lead Dallas' dynamic offense.
But then there is the "ticking time bomb'' of his contractual future - which is what Melvin Gordon is addressing when he says being an NFL right now "literally sucks.''
Could a heavier Pollard workload elevate him from Pro Bowler to All-Pro? Sure. Will that mean he gets paid more than the $10 million tag he's presently scheduled to get in 2022. Nope. It's more likely that the Cowboys burst his bubble by letting him walk after the 2023 season ends regardless of his production.
Pollard enters this season at the age of 26, and while most would say that means he's in his physical prime, the one-year contract he received indicates skepticism from the Cowboys' regime.
Think that's a tough pill to swallow? Try not to choke when you realize that the "unwanted'' Ezekiel Elliott, cut this offseason, is only 27 years old. That's right, the difference between being "a young ascending player'' and "a veteran stuck in the purgatory of free agency'' is a measly one-year age gap.
The league quickly moves on from its stars, especially at running back. While it's unfortunate that general managers refuse to feed Zeke a new contract, it's to be expected in the modern NFL.
In 2018, Le'Veon Bell was crucified by the media for sitting out the entire season as he waited for a bigger payday to accompany his 2017 All-Pro honors. Flash-forward to 2023, and again the league finds itself with a superstar running back sitting out in Saquon Barkley. Barkley's got the $10 mil tag; he wants more.
"It's just so tough for running backs right now, man," out-of-work former Pro Bowler Melvin Gordon said to CBS Sports. "You have a lot of running backs that's out there, and we just don't get no love. It's literally the worst position to play in the NFL right now. It literally sucks."
Gordon [30] sits with Elliott amongst fellow former Pro Bowlers like Kareem Hunt [27], Dalvin Cook [27], and Leonard Fournette [28] in free agency, forming what on paper looks to be a star-studded crop of rushers that is spoiling from ... young age?
Perhaps running backs were once a dime a dozen, but the modern NFL has somehow managed to reverse inflation when paying the position group, seemingly demanding stars split a nickel.
Cook and Elliott were cut by their franchises to save money. Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones accepted a pay cut to avoid free agency. The Carolina Panthers were applauded for shipping away their best player in Christian McCaffrey [who then proceeded to nearly carry the San Francisco 49ers offense to a Super Bowl appearance], and the Tennessee Titans are a king-sized running back away from complete NFL obscurity, yet they allegedly floated Derrick Henry's name in trade rumors this past draft.
Most frustrating is the fact that the "mistreatment'' of running backs, in part, draws its roots from Dallas. In 1993, the Cowboys forced Emmitt Smith into a holdout by refusing to pay him his demands for "quarterback money,'' as first reported back in the day by our own Mike Fisher. After an 0-2 start to begin the season, Jerry Jones gave in, making him the highest-paid rusher in the game.
When the NFL's all-time leading rusher struggles to get paid in his prime during an era that valued running backs, it shouldn't surprise anyone that in today's pass-happy league, 2023 front offices will devote an average of $17 million more to their wide receivers than to its running backs.
Though this is a bleak reality for Pollard, the hard truth is that the NFL is a cold business. Zeke is proof that the timer on the prime of Pollard's career has already begun.
Dallas fans may appreciate a breakout season for Pollard due to increased touches, but as the tread runs off his tires, front offices [unfairly or not] will soon present him with a contract that suggests he's already begun to break down. Like all running backs in 2023, Pollard is a ticking time bomb that organizations hope will explode for big yardage ... without having to give them big paydays.
You can follow Isaiah DeAnda Delgado on Twitter and Instagram @IsaiahDDelgado.
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