We stand just over six months away from the kickoff of the 2024 NFL season in Kansas City.
The opponent has yet to be determined, but I can already feel the tingling excitement of knowing NFL football is back.
That excitement is 189 days away, however, and the current focus for all NFL teams is the upcoming free agency and draft class.
Scouts are scrambling around in Indianapolis awaiting the start of the NFL Combine, where they get to see the draft class perform wonders without pads on.
It’s a fun time of the year and a necessary process, but only the best scouts can separate the players who can perform just as successfully in full pads.
Luckily for Dallas Cowboys fans, Will McClay & Co. have a proven track record over the past decade.
I just finished up a three-part series detailing the top three roster positions weakened by free agency losses.
We were having so much fun, that I decided to keep it going by continuing the analysis of more positions on the roster.
The running back room is thin after Tony Pollard and Rico Dowdle both saw their contracts expire.
There are several free-agent options as well as a deep running back class in the draft.
Ultimately, the shape of the running back room depends on philosophy and finances, and how the Cowboys’ front office decides to balance those two aspects of the business.
Current Outlook
The running back room in Dallas is about as thin as fans’ patience is with the team after another early playoff exit.
Deuce Vaughn and Malik Davis are the only running backs on the Cowboys’ roster as of 2/28/2024.
They have 61 rushes for 201 yards COMBINED between the two, and neither has shown enough on the game field to give us any confidence that either can be the lead back.
Free Agency
Just because I (along with most in Cowboys Nation) know exactly how EVP Stephen Jones and the Cowboys front office operate, I believe there are three paths they will take.
We Like Our Guys
One or both of Pollard and Dowdle may end up with a star on their helmet in 2024 because of the “we like our guys” philosophy.
Cowboys fans won’t like it, but we can’t pretend that Pollard hasn’t been an effective running back.
The issue is former franchise running backs like Emmitt Smith, DeMarco Murray, and Ezekiel Elliott have us all conditioned to believe the lead back needs to get 300 carries and 70 receptions every season.
In today’s NFL, and in HC Mike McCarthy’s philosophy itself, his offense typically takes a running back-by-committee approach.
We saw it last season when Pollard and Dowdle combined for 1,366 rush yards, 455 receiving yards, and 10 total touchdowns.
Pollard’s agent has to be seeking at least the annual average of the franchise tag ($11.951 million) for his client, but it may prove too expensive for the Cowboys.
There’s Only So Much Pie
The next likeliest scenario is another that Cowboys fans will turn up their noses at.
Free agency to the Cowboys’ front office is often like shopping with your grandmother in the clearance section of your local Wal-Mart.
Every once in a while you might find a name-brand item, but it is likely damaged in some way, yet granny says she can “fix it” and make it look brand new.
All summer long you think the new item is awesome, but when school rolls around, its defects show and all of the school kids laugh at you.
I may or may not have personal experience with this outside of the spec of the Dallas Cowboys free agency.
In this scenario, there are many options to choose from that will cost the Cowboys less than $5 million a season. Here are just a few I wouldn’t mind seeing in Dallas:
- Gus Edwards (from Baltimore)
- Devin Singletary (from Houston)
- D’Andre Swift (from Philadelphia)
- Cam Akers (from Minnesota)
- Kareem Hunt (from Cleveland)
He’s a Great Player and We Sure Do Like Him
That line coming out of Stephen Jones’ mouth rolls off his tongue like turpentine because we all know that’s code for “we know he’s a great player but we don’t want to pay his asking price”.
There are a handful of those players currently in free agency that Cowboys Nation is clamoring for, but I have some news for you: it’s the least likely scenario.
Here are the top three running backs currently on the free agent market.
Saquon Barkley
The former #2 overall pick from Penn State University, Saquon Barkley played on the franchise tag for the Giants last season but will now test free agency.
Barkley’s talent on the field cannot be denied, and in a way, teams should be thanking the Giants for never fielding a competent offensive line because his price tag would be higher.
Saquon would bring power, elusiveness, and receiving ability to fit perfectly in McCarthy’s Texas Coast offense, but if he is still seeking a yearly salary of nearly $15 million, Dallas won’t look his way.
Derrick Henry
For the “we need toughness” crowd out there, the former 2,000-yard rusher makes a perfect fit.
Derrick Henry is a massive human being/cyborg standing 6’3″ 247 lbs who looks even more intimidating in pads and a sun visor.
Henry makes linebackers think twice about filling their gap and punishes them with raw power when they get in his way.
However, he is now over the 30 years old mark with over 2,000 carries on his powerful legs.
He also averaged the worst yards per game of his career since he became a starter (68.6 yards per game) but it’s possible the Titans’ offensive line declined in the past couple of seasons.
Dallas will have to debate the chicken or the egg argument when it comes to Henry.
Is his play declining because of his physical ability or because of the declining efficiency of his offensive line?
Regardless of what the answer to that question is, Henry is probably too expensive for the Cowboys’ liking.
Josh Jacobs
Josh Jacobs is appealing to teams because of the top running backs on the market, he is the youngest.
Jacobs didn’t turn 26 years old until the NFL season ended, literally on the day of the Chiefs Super Bowl victory.
The Raiders did use him as a workhorse back and some nagging injuries were the result of over 1,300 carries in five seasons.
But like I stated above, McCarthy’s offenses have almost always been a dual-running back approach so I wouldn’t expect the Cowboys to make any running back a workhorse.
Jacobs would bring some toughness with elusive capabilities that come both in the form of breaking tackles and some nifty moves with speed in the open field.
He would be a welcome addition to the Cowboys, but there’s only so much pie to go around.
Draft
The last strategy the Cowboys may explore is adding a running back through the draft.
Malik Davis made the team as an undrafted free agent in 2022 and Dallas used a 2023 6th round pick on the diminutive Deuce Vaughn.
Neither moves the confidence meter like a few backs who have already been linked to the Cowboys early in the draft.
The benefit of a rookie running back is two-fold.
First, you get the rookie contract at a cheap rate plus the 5th year option should that running back be drafted in the 1st round.
Second, the team gets a back who has fresh legs when it comes to NFL standards, and most sharing the backfield in college.
Here are a few names who have been brought up by analysts as good fits for the Cowboys’ offense:
- Audric Etisme’ (Notre Dame)
- Trey Benson (Florida State)
- Blake Corum (Michigan)
- Bucky Irving (Oregon)
- Braelon Allen (Wisconsin)
All of these backs possess traits that would benefit the Cowboys offense in some way.
The only question is which path with the Cowboys take? Will they re-sign their own guys, sign bargain bin players, sign a top-dollar free agent, or opt for a fresh start with a rookie?
We will know the answer to that question by the end of March.
