Ezekiel Elliott’s cautionary tale for Dallas Cowboys, Tony Pollard contract and RB draft

Let’s get the business out of the way first.

The Dallas Cowboys absolutely want Tony Pollard back on the roster in 2023.

He is an unrestricted free agent coming off the best season of his career and is in the midst of rehabbing a fractured ankle that should be fully healed by the start of training camp.

How they get that done is another story.

A franchise tag, guaranteeing him $10.1 million in 2023, is a definite possibility.

But the Cowboys will also consider signing Pollard to a multi-year contract extension.

The team will meet with Pollard’s agent Kennard McGuire this week at the NFL Scouting Combine to discuss both options, per vice president Stephen Jones.

Interestingly enough, the Cowboys do not have plans as of yet to meet with Rocky Arceneaux, the agent for running back Ezekiel Elliott about Elliott’ future.

Pollard, who made $965,000 in the final year of his rookie deal in 2022, is due for a huge raise and the status as the starting running back in 2023 after his first 1,000-yard season and Pro Bowl selection.

Elliott, who is due $10.9 million in base salary and has a $16 cap hit in 2023, is facing the option of getting cut or taking a huge pay cut to stay with the team — with the latter may not even be an option when the Cowboys make their final decisions for next season.

“We haven’t finalized any decisions yet in terms of what that room’s going to look like,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. “ But Zeke’s a tremendous competitor, a guy, just a great teammate, a great competitor. Obviously, he’s making a lot of money. He knows that.

“Obviously, Tony Pollard’s up for free agency. So that’s a challenge. We’ll work through that.”

Add in the possibility that the Cowboys will also target a running back in the 2023 NFL Draft, possibility as high as the 26th overall pick in the first round.

One thing is certain: Elliott will be at the center of it all, including the Cowboys’ current and past experiences with the two-time NFL rushing champion who is the third all-time leading rusher in Cowboys history but has seen a precipitous decline in production over the last three years.

After being picked fourth overall in the 2016 NFL Draft, Elliott is facing the possibility of being cut, coinciding with the declining value of the running back during his seven-year career in Dallas.

Jones doesn’t believe it’s wise to pick a running back at the top of the draft any more.

“I think it depends on what part of the first round and if you’re up there in the top 10. It’s hard to take them there,” Jones said. “If you’re taking a player in the top half, you’re hoping you got a player that’s gonna be here 10 years, and it’s tough for running backs to last 10 years. There’s not many Emmitt Smith’s or guys that play that long.”

“We thought Zeke obviously did an amazing job for us and came in right away and was dominant and helped us win a lot of football games. So I don’t second guess that one. But it is hard. Like I said, it’s hard for these guys to play 10 years at a real high level.”

Likewise, it’s hard to justify a second contract for a running back, especially one similar to the six-year, $90 million extension the Cowboys gave to Elliott in 2019.

At 25, Pollard is younger than Elliott and doesn’t have the wear and tear on his body with the load of carries in college and the NFL.

Still, any extension the Cowboys consider for Pollard will be four years or less with the franchise tag the most likely option for 2023.

As far as the 2023 draft is concerned, Texas running back Bijan Robinson and Alabama running back Jahmyr Gibbs are definite targets for the Cowboys late in the first round or the second round.

The 26th pick is on the table for a running back, per Jones, because it’s usually not a player with a first-round grade.

“I think we say we’ve got you know, 18 to 20 first-rounders on the board,” Jones said. “So usually when you’re picking 26, you’re pretty lucky if there’s still a first-rounder left on your board. Usually that’s been picked over and you’re, you know, you’re taking those players there. I think certainly if the right guy were there and you loved him and you needed him, then you’d take him.”