FRISCO, Texas — For a second consecutive offseason, the Dallas Cowboys are experiencing a major shakeup at one of their most important positions: running back. Tony Pollard has now officially signed with the Tennessee Titans in free agency, vacating the RB1 role in North Texas, but the re-signing of Rico Dowdle does at least provide a little stability.
The key word there being little, because while Dowdle is a promising young talent coming off of his best year as a pro, it's only a one-year deal and it's clear the Cowboys could and should still be in the market for another veteran back.
When posed the question of how the organization will handle the position in 2024, executive vice president and director of player personnel Stephen Jones hints at a two-fold approach — one that includes the 2024 NFL Draft.
"We're looking at the draft, too," said Jones. "We don't have an established [RB] in the organization right now. It's something we'll be looking at — in terms of getting young there again. But I wouldn't be surprised if we also address it [in free agency]."
Dowdle appears to be the first leg of that free agency plan, but potentially not the last, as it's not youth the Cowboys lack at RB, having plenty of it on the roster by way of Deuce Vaughn, Hunter Luepke, Malik Davis and Snoop Conner alongside Dowdle.
That's an average age of just 24 years old, not factoring in the age of a potential younger draft selection. What's more telling is the fact that the five mentioned combine for zeroNFL starts, and only seven NFL touchdowns, with four of those belonging to Dowdle (all four coming in 2023).
This suggests the Cowboys should also still be in the market to add another running back before the draft arrives, knowing full well they need to re-establish the definitive one-two punch that was missing in the first season without Ezekiel Elliott on the field.
"In this day in time, everybody's got complementary backs in this league," Jones admitted., "This has become the norm. I see us not just fixing it with one player at the running back position, but with more than one player."
