Dallas Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parsons believes his team should bring back running back Tony Pollard.
“I would say toward the end of the season Tony Pollard was catching his rhythm again,” Parsons said in an interview with Stephen A Smith. “I do think he’s an every-down guy. You’ve got to think, he broke his fibula, tibia, something that’s a catastrophic injury.”
He added: “You saw him increase, like he even said, ‘I’m just now getting back to myself.’ I would give Tony Pollard another shot.”
Pollard is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent when the new league year opens in March. He was selected by Dallas in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft.
The Memphis product had a terrific 2022 campaign, totaling 1,378 yards and 12 touchdowns on 232 touches. He suffered a fractured fibula in the team’s divisional-round loss to the San Francisco 49ers, which haltered his prep for the 2023 season.
Pollard’s numbers took a hit this year, as he averaged only four yards per carry on 252 attempts. His dip in production affected Dallas’ offense, which fell from ninth in rushing yards per contest in 2022 to 15th in 2023.
The Cowboys placed the franchise tag on Pollard last offseason. He played on a one-year, $10-million fully guaranteed deal.
“You’re talking about a guy that’s really been off from that January, came back Week 1, but he didn’t really do a lot,” Parsons said. “It takes a while to get back into football. He didn’t do OTAs. He didn’t do minicamp. He kind of did camp a little bit like working through it, getting back into it.”
Deuce Vaughn and Malik Davis are currently the Cowboys’ only running backs under contract for 2024. Pollard has 3,621 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns in 79 career games.
