The only Cowboys running backs under contract in 2024 are Deuce Vaughn, Malik Davis, Snoop Conner and fullback Hunter Lupke. Bourne and Lupke combined for 59 yards rushing last year. Conner and Davis have not touched a football in a game since preseason play in August.
For most people, this group may not look very similar. From the Cowboys' side, it's beautiful.
The financial reset for this position is almost complete.
A study of why the Cowboys have missed the Super Bowl while making the playoffs over the past three seasons can and should cover several bases. What can't be overlooked is how much the franchise is paying off for its aggressive investment in the running back position. This influence has been a drag on the team.
The Cowboys paid only their running backs for production in the front backfield, but they averaged 3.3 yards per carry in three playoff losses, including a Jan. 14 loss to Green Bay. -Includes 3.9 yards per game in the loss to the Packers.
As of now, Dallas still hasn't completely removed the rubble left by Ezekiel Elliott's 2019 six-year, $90 million contract. When the club released Elliott last March, they released him on a post-June 1 designation, creating additional salary cap space for 2023 in exchange for pushing dead money into the future.
At $6.04 million, Elliott will count more against the Cowboys' 2024 cap without being on the roster than any running back who actually takes up that cap. Save for the final burden, the franchise has achieved financial freedom.
All running backs on contract count for less than $1 million against the salary cap. Their salaries, which are at the league minimum, are not guaranteed. If any of the four do not make the 53-man roster from camp, the team can leave with a negligible cap penalty.
This permission calls for a more cost-saving approach to the position, relying on selecting at least one running back in April's draft. A new era has arrived in which the Cowboys don't spend big bucks on the quarterback and running back positions at the same time.
Cowboys players have topped 1,000 rushing yards in each of the past three seasons.
The milestones I barely cleared were expensive.
In 2021, it took Elliott until the third quarter of Game 17 to reach 1,002 yards. He earned $9.6 million that season, which was the fourth-highest among running backs in the NFL. In 2022, he counts $18.2 million against the team's salary cap, which is $6.3 million more than what Dalvin Cook, the next closest running back on the Minnesota Vikings' books, was paid. It was something. Elliott managed 642 rushing yards. It was Tony Pollard, on a cheap rookie contract, who totaled 1,007 yards that season.
In 2023, Pollard is no longer cheap, counting $10.09 million against the Cowboys' salary cap under the franchise tag. Upon his release, Elliott counted $5.82 million. If you look at Pollard and Elliott as a single player with a $15.9 million cap, the only running back who consumed more of his team's cap space would be Derrick Henry of the Tennessee Titans at $16.37 million.
Pollard also needed until the third quarter of Game 17 to surpass 1,000 yards. He finished with 1,005. Pollard frequently provided an improvement to the offense with his pass protection, but perhaps because he was unable to maintain his explosiveness amid an increased workload, as Pollard publicly stated, after breaking his foot in January 2023. Perhaps because he was getting back into shape, Pollard's legs lacked their original function. Usual juice.
According to Next Gen Stats data, Pollard recorded 19 mph on four of his 307 touches, or 1.3%, last season. He completed 10 of his 232 touches in 2022, more than triple his normal rate at 4.3%.
upon. On January 4, he described himself as having had an “up and down, up and down season.” He averaged 4.0 yards, down from 5.1 yards in his first four seasons.
“This is an okay year for me,” Pollard said. “I hold myself to a higher standard. I try to be my harshest critic and judge before anyone else. I'm always hard on myself.”
The Cowboys will soon have to decide whether to re-sign Pollard and Rico Doodle. Both players are scheduled to become free agents on March 13th. Dallas could be open to a reunion for the right price, but this is clearly a new day for the future at the running back position, and at least for the next few years, the big contract will be much easier than other players on the roster. Reserved for the position.
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