The Dallas Cowboys, according to Jerry Jones, couldn’t afford Derrick Henry during the previous offseason. Tony Pollard is the same. Even though after four games, both are ranked in the top 15 running backs in the NFL, the Cowboys’ running game is the worst in the whole league. The lesson of the tale is: Do you really receive what you pay for? Last week, in a loss to the Baltimore Ravens, Henry gashed the Cowboys for 151 yards and two touchdowns, giving them an all-too-close look at him. Additionally, if they were watching Monday Night Football this week, they probably noticed Pollard and were reminded of what it was like to have a burst-prone running back.
Pollard ran 22 times for 88 yards, a score, and a 41-yard scamper in the Tennessee Titans’ rout of the Miami Dolphins. In comparison to the Cowboys’ plodders, Lyles’s Olympic gold medal winning burst was evident in this play. In the last minute of play, he scored his touchdown on a 4-yard run to give Tennessee its first victory of the year. In 2023, the Cowboys used the Franchise Tag to pay Pollard $10 million, allowing him to enter free agency. He inked a $21.7 million, three-year contract with the Titans in March.
The Cowboys are employing a “running back by committee” consisting of Ezekiel Elliott (who makes $3 million), Rico Dowdle ($1.25 million), and former Pro Bowl player Dalvin Cook (who hasn’t been promoted off the practice squad) in place of Pollard, who would normally earn $7 million annually. The Cowboys are compromising performance in order to save money.
