Cowboys' Tony Pollard 'Fits' As Free Agent with Kellen's Eagles - ESPN

Dallas Cowboys' Tony Pollard 'Fits' As Free Agent Signing with Kellen Moore's Philadelphia Eagles - ESPN

The game of "Running Back Musical Chairs'' is about to begin, with the Dallas Cowboys quite possibly saying goodbye to Tony Pollard ...

And with an ESPN beat writer in Philadelphia suggesting that the Eagles would represent a "good fit'' as Pollard's next stop.

Part of the reasoning? The new offensive coordinator in Philly is of course Kellen Moore, who had a successful run with the Cowboys before last year moving on to the Chargers ... and now the top aide to Eagles coach Nick Sirianni.

Pollard vs Eagles

Moore inherits a bunch of talent in Philly, a group led by quarterback Jalen Hurts, receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, tight end Dallas Goedert and maybe running back D'Andre Swift, though he is expected to hit free agency - and will therefore join that "Musical Chairs'' game that is highlighted by the likely availability of big names like Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs, Austin Ekeler and Derrick Henry.

Writes ESPN: "Pollard is well-versed in Moore's scheme and would provide a dual-threat skill set (he had more than 3,600 rushing yards and more than 1,300 receiving yards over five seasons in Dallas) that the Eagles tend to gravitate toward.''

That makes sense. It can be argued, though, that Swift did much of that in his one season in Philly. Is Pollard a steep upgrade from Swift? When ESPN writes,  "Adding players who can complement the system Moore is bringing to Philadelphia (means) ... there's reason to believe this can be a top-five offense once again after slipping to eighth in total yards and seventh in points per game in 2023.''

In fairness to Pollard, that seems to be a lot to put on his after a relatively subpar year in Dallas, where in 2023 he was given the full load at running back after the release of Ezekiel Elliott. 

Pollard last-year performance (1,316 total yards, six touchdowns) might get in the way of a big-money offer, especially with all the other "name'' guys available.

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Coach Nick Sirianni is, it seems, giving Moore a great deal of control of the Philly offense. 

"I really look forward to evolving the offense and some things that I believe that by the end of the year got stale," Sirianni said. "I really see the beauty of what can happen with bringing in this new coordinator and where our offense can go because of it.''

Is Tony Pollard part of that "beauty''? The game of "Running Back Musical Chairs'' is about to tell us.