Tony Pollard: Should Cowboys Re-Sign Now?
The Dallas Cowboys running back duo of Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard had been one of the best in the league in terms of production for a few seasons. For a variety of reasons, not the least of which were injuries, that production has fallen off.
When Elliott was down with injuries in 2020 and 2021, Pollard was there as a second option and performed well both running the ball and as a pass catcher. Some fans even called for Pollard to be the starter and relegate Elliott to the backup role.
Regardless of the pecking order, Pollard is a quality back who has been nothing but productive for Dallas since being drafted by the Cowboys in the fourth round in 2019 out of Memphis. In fact, Pollard has his best statistical season in 2021 in almost every rushing and receiving category.
Last season, Pollard ran the ball 130 times for 719 yards, for an average of 5.5 yards per carry. All career-best numbers. He also caught 39 passes on 46 targets for 337 yards and averaged 8.6 yards per catch. Again, all career-best numbers.
It came out late in the season that Elliott was dealing with a knee injury, which would explain some of the extra usage of Pollard. That includes the kick-return game, where he returned a kickoff for a touchdown last season against the Las Vegas Raiders on Thanksgiving. Pollard averaged 28.8 yards per return in 2021, which would have placed him second in the league if he had enough returns to qualify for that statistic.
But the question is do the Cowboys value Pollard as much as they should? As much as the fans do?
If so, they have an opportunity to show it with Pollard entering the final season of his rookie contract. Extending Pollard should be a priority before the season starts since his price can only go up with another good season.
One of the knocks on Pollard is that he can't carry the load of being a starter, but he's a good change-of-pace back. But when he's been called upon to play that larger role in Dallas, he's answered the bell.
A lot of this also depends on the team's future plan for Elliott. After 2022, Dallas can cut Elliott for an $11.8M cap hit. After 2023, that hit is reduced even further to $6M.
Is there a chance Dallas drafts Elliott's replacement in this week's NFL Draft to back up Pollard for the next few seasons? That's a possibility if the Cowboys have decided to move on from Elliott after this year. But if Dallas sits around and does nothing, then it could go from having one of the best one-two punches out of the backfield to having none.
That might be a very "Dallas Cowboys" thing to do.
