The Cowboys tried to justify their feeble attempts to negotiate a long-term deal with running back Tony Pollard, making an obvious comment about the league in general.
The Dallas Cowboys have since learned from the "Zeke incident" and are addressing their running back room accordingly. This offseason, they placed a franchise tag on Tony Pollard, which amounts to a $10.09 million salary in 2023, and the two sides notably failed to get a long-term deal done by the July deadline.
Sources reported that the Cowboys didn't put in much effort to negotiate a long-term contract for Pollard, a troubling sign for Pollard's future in Dallas.
From Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones' perspective, Dallas is just going with the flow. The current state of the league, per Jones, is that it's "quarterback-driven" and has evolved to the point where running backs are devalued.
Jones goes on to discuss the importance of improving the Cowboys' passing game, adding that the franchise did offer Pollard a long-term deal earlier this summer. We'd assume it was such a lowball offer that Pollard had to decline it.
Way to state the obvious: of course the NFL is a quarterback-driven league. The quarterback is the most important player on the field, and he's rightfully paid as one.
Stephen Jones dismisses Tony Pollard's value in "quarterback-driven" league
So where does that leave the running backs?
Pollard, the Cowboys' 2019 fourth-round pick, proved his worth last year, setting career-highs in rushing yards and touchdowns as a verifiable dual-threat. He's currently rehabbing a broken leg suffered in the playoffs but should be primed for another Pro Bowl-caliber campaign in 2023, now heading into the season as Dallas' No. 1 back.
Amid widespread controversy surrounding running back deals in the modern NFL, Pollard may soon have a bone to pick with the Cowboys with his future hanging in the balance of a contract year.
By Stephen Jones' logic, the quarterback is the fulcrum of a team; his left tackle/ blindside protector is just as important, which is why the Giants recently gave Andrew Thomas a $117.5 million extension and only gave Saquon Barkley $11 million. Teams simply aren't allocating money in their budgets for the running back position anymore, and the position's stock value has arguably reached an all-time low.
While Pollard and other top backs play for pennies and lack any real career stability, Stephen Jones and other front office pocketbooks will keep pulling the strings.
