Three teams that could be in the market for a starting running back this offseason are the Washington Commanders, Seattle Seahawks and Houston Texans.

One of the Seahawks’ most high-profile pending free agents is Kenneth Walker, who was a playoff hero and Super Bowl MVP.

As of Tuesday morning, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the Seahawks will not use the franchise tag on Walker, which removes a safeguard that would have prevented Walker from leaving in free agency.

The Commanders have a whopping four running backs set to hit free agency in 2026, including Chris Rodriguez, Austin Ekeler and Jeremy McNichols, all of whom played a significant role for parts of last season.

None of them were particularly good, though, and we would expect Washington to bring in a significant upgrade over those three to pair with Jacory Croskey-Merritt.

When it comes to the Texans, Joe Mixon is a likely cut candidate after he missed all of last season with a foot injury. Houston desperately needs to add a veteran back to their room that currently includes Woody Marks and Jawhar Jordan.

All three of those teams could have some level of interest in Tennessee Titans running back Tony Pollard, who Matt Okada of NFL.com believes is a cut candidate as he enters the final year of his $21 million contract.

Here’s Okada’s thoughts on a potential Pollard release:

Pollard has quietly been one of the most consistent running backs in football the last four years, logging between 1,288 and 1,378 scrimmage yards in each of those seasons and scoring between five and six touchdowns in each of the last three. However, it hasn’t mattered much for the Titans, who went 3-14 in both 2024 and 2025 with Pollard leading the backfield. As Tennessee looks to rebuild around No. 1 pick Cam Ward, it might make sense to ditch Pollard’s $9.25 million cap hit and open $7.25 million in space for a more important position. The running back will be 29 years old in April and just logged his lowest average speed (12.05 mph) and lowest rate of 15+ mph runs (11.6%) in any season of his career, according to Next Gen Stats. While he’s been solid, holding onto aging and semi-expensive running backs is rarely a recipe for success, especially for a team trying to start over.

Pollard has tallied 1,000 yards on the ground in each of the last four seasons, and his ability to hit that mark over the past two years has been particularly impressive because the Titans have been one of the very worst teams in football.

The 28-year-old is everything a team could want in a running back. On top of being consistent overall, Pollard is a strong, explosive runner, a top-notch pass-catcher, and he’s a plus in pass protection.

Pollard should have at least a few more good years left in him as he prepares to turn 29 this year, and we can only imagine just how much better his numbers could be on a more competent offense.

We could see the Titans going either way with this one, but we lean toward Tennessee keeping Pollard.

After all, he’s still a good player, doesn’t cost a ton ($9.25 million cap hit) and the Titans don’t need the money with a league-high $104 million in cap space. And, keeping Pollard gives some continuity in the backfield for Cam Ward.

If the Titans do cut Pollard, we would expect Washington, Seattle and Houston to have some interest, assuming everything we previously discussed plays out.

In Seattle, Pollard would be the perfect complement to Zach Charbonnet, and quite possibly a better one than Walker given Pollard’s superior all-around skill set.

In Washington, Pollard would be far better than anyone the Commanders had in their backfield last season and he could provide a valuable mentor to Croskey-Merritt, who is a similar back.

Adding a veteran back like Pollard would give the Texans the veteran they need to team up with Marks and Jordan, and he has the ability to take a lot of pressure off C.J. Stroud, which is paramount.

If we had to pick one spot, we love the fit with Seattle the most.

Having Charbonnet around to do the dirty work in between the tackles and at the goal line will help keep Pollard fresh, and assuming he keeps playing at a high level, we believe Pollard would fill Walker’s shoes, and then some.

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