Dallas Cowboys running back room is no longer empty as a free agent is returning to team

After losing Tony Pollard in free agency, the Dallas Cowboys are seemingly starting over at running back.

The team took a step toward overhauling the position with the re-signing of Rico Dowdle to a one-year deal Monday.

Dowdle is the coming off the most productive season of what has been an injury-plagued four years in Dallas. He rushed for 361 yards on 89 carries (4.1 yards per carry) and scored a pair of touchdowns. He added two more scores and 144 yards on 17 receptions.

He is now heads a running back room that includes Deuce Vaughn, Malik Davis and Snoop Connor.

But the Cowboys are far from adding to the position in free agency and the upcoming 2024 NFL Draft.

What’s certain is the Cowboys wanted to go cheaper at the position in 2024 after paying Pollard $10.1 million in 2023 and the-departed Ezekiel Elliott $12.4 million in 2022.

Elliott still counts $6 million against the Cowboys cap in 2024.

Pollard signed a three-year, $24 million deal with the Tennessee Titans. And Cowboys did not bid on the services other veterans in free agency, including Derrick Henry and Saquon Barkley.

But vice president Stephen Jones said the team had a plan for the position.

“This is an organization that has been built on great backs, whether it’s Tony Dorsett, Herschel Walker, Emmitt Smith, Ezekiel Elliott or Tony Pollard,” Jones said last week “We’re big believers in backs. They bring a lot to the table.

“Unfortunately, we’re at a point where we have to make some decisions in terms of where we allocate dollars,” he said. “We feel like there’s going to be ways to address the running back situation in a more efficient way. We’ll see how that works out.”

Pollard was the first step.

Possibilities in draft include Texas running back Jonathon Boroks, Blake Corum, Trey Benson, Bucky IRving and Jaylen Wright.