Stephen Jones: Dallas Cowboys offered Tony Pollard a long-term contract
Tony Pollard will play on the franchise tag this season after being unable to come to a contract agreement with the Dallas Cowboys.
During their pre-training camp press conference in Oxnard, Calif., on Tuesday, owner Jerry Jones, CEO Stephen Jones and head coach Mike McCarthy made it clear that they wanted the running back signed to a long-term contract during the offseason.
It never happened.
Jerry Jones commented he thought Pollard was a good fit for the franchise tag.
Jerry Jones pointed out that with the salary cap, every dollar spent on one player is a dollar taken away from another so the Cowboys thought the tag worked for both parties.
“I think the franchise tag, when I think of it, probably fit that situation really well,” said Jerry Jones, “You distribute it [money from salary cap] as best you can and in this particular case I think it worked out well for Tony, that’s a lot of money.”
However, Stephen Jones said the team did offer Pollard a long-term contract.
“We offered Tony a long-term deal, you know the same holds true for tight end, we offered [Dalton] Schultz a long-term deal, “ says Jones, “ We didn’t agree, the reason you don’t agree is they want more [money] and you want to pay a little bit less you agree to disagree and they go on and play under the tag.”
Stephen Jones said the Cowboys have nothing but respect for running backs and pointed out that they had given running backs long-term contracts in the past. Ezekiel Elliott was highest paid running back in the NFL when he first signed his six-year, $90 million extension.
The Cowboys will pay Pollard $10,091,000 million under the franchise tag this season and will not be able to negotiate a long-term contract till next offseason.
This story was originally published July 25, 2023 at 1:19 PM.
