Think Pollard stays on as 2?

[Mr_437]

Also, he did carry the team while Zeke was out, and did an admirable job of it.

Exactly.

 

[blueblood70]

Wrong comps those are$15-16M RBs CMC n Kamara...see that's why I don't care what somebody like you says. Aaron Jones is Pollard's comp, Playmaking RB not asked to carry the load...there's a place for that type type of player. Lastly, there is no debate cause you don't know what your talking about...I'm educating ignorance.

NO, you are stating an Opinion but good try,

stick to you and ill have my own Opinions..

NO education being transferred in an opinion-based forum made up of nothing but FANS!

TY!

we will allow the FO to decide and accept it is what we shall do..what else can we do LOL

 

[nightrain]

Yes, the Cowboys have. Emmitt Smith was signed to - at the time - a massive extension in 1993, the very first year of NFL free agency.

His contract extended into the salary cap era, though Emmitt was signed the year before the cap was instituted. It's stunning how quickly the Cowboys descended after the 95 season. I would be inclined to go after his clone.

 

[blueblood70]

Zeke will restructure, Tony will stay. Its working great right now and should extend both of their careers if they play it right...

Best case scenario for sure.

 

[JoeKing]

I don't see how the Cowboys keep Pollard if Zeke does not take a pay cut. Giving big money to 1 RB is bad enough. Giving big money to 2 RB's would be beyond silly.

It's called a restructured deal for Zeke. How do you not see that?

 

[Ranching]

He's not a 2...zeke is 1A and Tony is 1B

 

[TNCowboy]

I don’t think he stays anymore than Alvin Harper would have.

No position is more 2nd contract dependent than RB.

Pollard has a lot of light shining on him with more likely to come. And the RB role has increased in the NFL, his shot at the brass ring and he deserves that.

They would have to flip the order to keep Pollard and I do not see the GM doing that so it is back to the draft for a RB.

Alvin Harper left Dallas because the salary cap began 2 years prior in 1993, Dallas had a ton of good players to sign, and several teams were willing to get in a bidding war for Harper. TB made Harper the highest paid WR in the NFL. It had nothing to do with WR1, winning, or anything else than money. Jerry Jones had publicly fretted for a couple of years about how he was going to be able to sign Harper within the cap, and ultimately had to let him go.

If the old man has any functioning brain cells left, he'll franchise Pollard if he can't sign him reasonably, and send Elliott packing unless he wants to come back at a much cheaper price. The franchise tag for RB is the lowest in football, the Cowboys would be fools not to take advantage of it.

 

[TNCowboy]

He's not a 2...zeke is 1A and Tony is 1B

Zeke is nowhere near being a 1A anymore. He's a backup/short yardage back.

 

[Direwolf63]

It's called a restructured deal for Zeke. How do you not see that?

Restructuring is just pushing more money into the future, sacrificing future salary cap space. How do you not see that?

Something I am not a fan of. Especially with RB's, which is a fungible position

 

[nathanlt]

I don’t think he stays anymore than Alvin Harper would have.

No position is more 2nd contract dependent than RB.

Pollard has a lot of light shining on him with more likely to come. And the RB role has increased in the NFL, his shot at the brass ring and he deserves that.

They would have to flip the order to keep Pollard and I do not see the GM doing that so it is back to the draft for a RB.

As a # 2 who gets most of the carries, yardage and TD's??? Um.... Sure.

 

[charron]

Money talks. And if someone wants to throw a ton of guaranteed money at him he would be stupid not to take it. This will be business for him, he's earned it.

 

[Diehardblues]

I don’t think he stays anymore than Alvin Harper would have.

No position is more 2nd contract dependent than RB.

Pollard has a lot of light shining on him with more likely to come. And the RB role has increased in the NFL, his shot at the brass ring and he deserves that.

They would have to flip the order to keep Pollard and I do not see the GM doing that so it is back to the draft for a RB.

And there’s some good RB’s coming out.

https://www.nfldraftbuzz.com/positions/RB/1/2023

 

[J12B]

I dont see any reason to not hit Pollard with the franchise tag this offseason. It's pretty reasonable for RBs.

It's about $10 million.

Kinda high imo.

I'd rather see a long term deal worked out at like 8 million on average and it's basically a 2 year deal.

 

[RonnieT24]

I think Pollard is fine with that. They have a system, where Zeke starts the game and Tony changes things up, and it works well that way. As long as they don't insult him in the contract negotiations, I think Pollard would be satisfied with things the way they are.

He should be.. but I think we (and more importantly the Cowboys) need to be prepared for the possibility that he's not. The front office will need to have a plan to replace his production if he doesn't re-sign here. I will always maintain that it's easier to find a speed guy who can come in and give you a change of pace jolt than a guy who can do all the things Zeke does. People can feel free to disagree all they want.. but true all around football players like Zeke who are selfless and tough as nails are rare. Fast guys are not.

Some will take that as a shot at TP.. which it certainly isn't. Dude is crazy good. He has a wonderful skillset and is absolutely perfect in his role. But there are more 6' 210 pound guys who can run like the wind in the world than 6' 225 guys who while maybe not quite as fast, cause 5-6 defenders to have to leave the game from tackling him every week and who regularly decapitate blitzers, and who converts upwards of 90% of short yardage and goal line situations all while still carrying a respectable ypc average... which would likely be a bit higher if he didn't have all those short yardage carries to go with all those brain dead plunges up the middle likes to call for him.

The bottom line is until Zeke leaves town we won't know what shouldering the load for a full season will do to Pollard's game. I mean we have some idea but we have not seen him have to do it for more than a game or two hear and there. And he has certainly not fallen on his face. But over time it will take a toll on him just like it has ever other running back who has ever played. The true irony will be when that happens the same people who screamed for him to get the job will be screaming for him to be replaced by his more explosive backup whomever that might be. And will be mad that the Cowboys paid him. Which is why frankly he should try to get every dime he can in free agency. He won't likely have another shot at it.

 

[thunderpimp91]

It's about $10 million.

Kinda high imo.

I'd rather see a long term deal worked out at like 8 million on average and it's basically a 2 year deal.

I'd love to see that too, but I think that may be delusional. Cap is going up and up.

Top RBs are making 12-16MM AAV with roughly 30MM guaranteed. I highly doubt you get Pollard to even entertain a discussion of an extension of 8 AAV and 16-20ish guaranteed. Personally, I think the tag would be a steal if 10 is the number.

 

[conner01]

I don’t think he stays anymore than Alvin Harper would have.

No position is more 2nd contract dependent than RB.

Pollard has a lot of light shining on him with more likely to come. And the RB role has increased in the NFL, his shot at the brass ring and he deserves that.

They would have to flip the order to keep Pollard and I do not see the GM doing that so it is back to the draft for a RB.

1 or 2 is not gonna be the deciding factor for pollard
Money will be

 

[eromeopolk]

I don’t think he stays anymore than Alvin Harper would have.

No position is more 2nd contract dependent than RB.

Pollard has a lot of light shining on him with more likely to come. And the RB role has increased in the NFL, his shot at the brass ring and he deserves that.

They would have to flip the order to keep Pollard and I do not see the GM doing that so it is back to the draft for a RB.

Cowboys draft Gibbs, RB Alabama. Gibbs is Pollard 2.0 but more developed as a RB out of college than Pollard...
Jahmyr Gibbs has been one of the top weapons on the Alabama offense. He has amassed 850 rushing yards with seven touchdowns, and led the team with 42 receptions. In total, he has gained 1,228 yards of total offense with 10 touchdowns. In his career, Gibbs has accumulated 3,202 yards from scrimmage with 23 touchdowns, and added one more score as a kick returner.

 

[dreameaglegreen]

Yeah Emmitt was made the highest paid RB in NFL history on that 1993 contract.. after which the Cowboys won two more Super Bowls..

I should also mention that the guy who Emmitt passed as the highest paid RB in the league that time, Thurman Thomas, went to four straight Super Bowls.

But no one is talking about "going all in at the running back position anyway." Most logical fans acknowledge that it doesn't make sense to pay both backs 12 million a year. And the Cowboys won't have to. I suspect they can get Zeke to restructure to somewhere in the 7-8 range and can sign Pollard to a 4 year deal that averages out to something which will set him up for life as well. Zeke has already gotten his "bag" and nothing I have seen from him the last four years suggests that he would begrudge TP getting his. If they keep both guys for a cap number under 20 million a year to me that's a win. Besides, by the time Pollard's contract talks heat up the Cowboys might be in the middle of parade planning..

Why would zeke play for 8 million when he's getting 16.7 next year? He'll get almost 12 million if the cowboys cut him. I understand him wanting to chase a ring and they cowboys are in the mix for a super bowl, but he could get cut and sign with a team like kansas city for 5 million and still be making more. They could restructure, the eagles did that with brandon brooks and we are still paying him 6 million this year and 9 million next year. That way zeke would still get his money in the future, but I don't think the cowboys operate like that. I think pollards a good player and if they want to keep him they'll have to pay whatever the going rate is, similar to the eagles keeping sanders. Maybe keep both zeke and pollard (push pollards cap hit to the future) and cut zeke in 2024 when it's only a 6 million cap hit.

 

[RonnieT24]

Why would zeke play for 8 million when he's getting 16.7 next year? He'll get almost 12 million if the cowboys cut him. I understand him wanting to chase a ring and they cowboys are in the mix for a super bowl, but he could get cut and sign with a team like kansas city for 5 million and still be making more. They could restructure, the eagles did that with brandon brooks and we are still paying him 6 million this year and 9 million next year. That way zeke would still get his money in the future, but I don't think the cowboys operate like that. I think pollards a good player and if they want to keep him they'll have to pay whatever the going rate is, similar to the eagles keeping sanders. Maybe keep both zeke and pollard (push pollards cap hit to the future) and next year and cut zeke in 2024 when it's only a 6 million cap hit.

This demonstrates a glaring lack of understanding of how NFL contracts and the salary cap works. There is no more guaranteed money in Zeke's contract so if he is cut he does not receive a dime from the Cowboys. The 12 million to which you refer is the cap charge the Cowboys would have against them if they cut him. Zeke's base salary next year is 10.9 million not 16.7 million. So if they can negotiate his salary down to something palatable but there is nothing they can do about the pro-rated bonus money. That 5.8 million goes against their cap no matter what they do. So they can absorb a 12 million dollar cap hit to release him or negotiate a deal that counts maybe 7-8 million against the cap to keep him. Only people who hate Zeke would rather owe 12 million against the cap to be rid of him. Which of course any Eagle fan would certainly qualify. This is like when Eagles fans were hoping like hell the Cowboys wouldn't re-sign Dak and coming up with all kinds of cockamamie reason why they shouldn't. It hasn't really worked out all that well for the Eagles when facing the Cowboys with Dak in the line up so I totally get it.

 

[Reid1boys]

I’m not a big fan of doing so, and a few weeks ago I never would have thought this…..but as of now I can see them working out a Lawrence type deal with Elliott.

He wants to be here and we know how Jerry feels. It makes best financial sense to tag Pollard and draft some fresher legs in the 2nd round or so, but I don’t get the vibe they are going to be ready to part ways in a couple of months.

Agree.... and honestly, it makes good sense for Zeke and the Cowboys.