And with my colleague Jane Slater saying she's confident Pollard will be on the Cowboys' roster in 2023 - whether via a franchise tag (which would be about $10 million) or a multi-year deal - you have to wonder what's next for Elliott, who doesn't have any more guaranteed money on his contract. This is just to provide context on where the market for a lead back seems to be levelling off at.
In fact, speaking to general managers and coaches around the league, my current best estimate for what Pollard could make in a free-agent deal sits at around $11.5 million per year - and that'd be for what those GMs and coaches would consider to be a lead back, not a shared-backfield contributor. While the 25-year-old's contract season abruptly ended with a broken leg in the Divisional Round, he'd still garner plenty of attention on the open market. Tony Pollard emerged as Dallas' top back in 2022, averaging a robust 5.2 yards per carry en route to his first 1,000-yard campaign and Pro Bowl nod. There are exceptions to this kind of pronouncement - I would count Derrick Henry, a 29-year-old back with the second-highest cap figure, among them - but Zeke didn't even lead his own team in rushing this past season.
It's my professional opinion that you'd be hard-pressed to find a data-focused analyst who would recommend against at least restructuring - if not fully releasing - just about any soon-to-be 28-year-old back with the highest cap number at the position.