Report: Dallas Cowboys not expected to use 2024 franchise tag on Tony Pollard

One of the Dallas Cowboys’ hardest decisions of the 2024 offseason is what to do with running back Tony Pollard. After using the 2023 franchise tag on him to lock his salary in at $10.1 million, the Cowboys would have to pay him a 20% increase to tag him again for next season. According to NFL insider Adam Schefter, Dallas is not expected to pay that $12.1 million for a tag on Pollard in 2024.

Instead, the organization can negotiate a deal of lesser value for the former fourth-round draft pick. If they don’t get it done, he’ll enter free agency when the league new year hits on March 13. Other teams can begin legal tampering with Pollard on March 11.

Schefter shared the news on Pollard on Monday while also reporting that the Titans don’t have plans to tag Derrick Henry, nor do the Chargers with Austin Ekeler. The Giants also won’t tag Saquon Barkley and are expected to explore a different type of deal with him before the free agency window opens. After failing to get Josh Jacobs to sign on the tag last season, the Raiders reportedly are also not planning to tag him again.

In his second year as the Cowboys’ leading rusher, Pollard posted 1,005 rushing yards, 311 receiving yards and six touchdowns. He took the top job from former first-rounder Ezekiel Elliott who Dallas released last offseason.

Micah Parsons advocates for Pollard

If it were up to Micah Parsons, he’d keep Pollard for at least another season. In 2023, the former Memphis standout was coming off of a high-ankle sprain, which required surgery, and a fibula fracture. He reached 1,000 rushing yards for the second consecutive season, but only topped 100 yards in a single game once during the regular season. He also had just six touchdowns, down from 12 last season.

“I would say toward the end of the season Tony Pollard was catching his rhythm again,” Parsons said on The Stephen A. Smith Show this week amid the NBA All-Star festivities. “I do think he’s an every-down guy. You’ve got to think, he broke his fibula, tibia, something, that’s a catastrophic injury. You’re talking about a guy that’s really been off from that January, came back Week 1 but he didn’t really do a lot.

“It takes a while to get back into football. He didn’t do OTAs… didn’t do minicamp. He kind of did camp a little bit like working through it, getting back into it. You saw him increase, like he even said, ‘I’m just now getting back to myself.’ I would give Tony Pollard another shot.”