{"id":1052182,"date":"2026-11-11T20:12:25","date_gmt":"2026-11-11T20:12:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/1052182\/"},"modified":"2026-11-11T20:12:25","modified_gmt":"2026-11-11T20:12:25","slug":"tony-pollard-trade-offers-and-why-the-titans-should-re-sign-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/1052182\/","title":{"rendered":"Tony Pollard Trade Offers and Why the Titans Should Re-Sign Him"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\tHome<\/a><\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNFL<\/a><\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTennessee Titans<\/a><\/p>\n

The Titans didn\u2019t get an offer worth more than a fourth-round pick for Tony Pollard. Now he says he\u2019d like to stay in Nashville, and Tennessee can bring him back without putting its long-term backfield plans on hold.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Tony
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTony Pollard (Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images) \/ Mike Borgonzi (A to Z Sports)<\/p>\n

The Tennessee Titans held on to running back Tony Pollard<\/a>, and the trade market for him explains why. The offers Tennessee received for Pollard all involved Day 3 picks, with nothing better than a fourth-round pick on the table, according to A to Z Sports\u2019 Easton Freeze<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That wasn\u2019t enough for a back who has been one of the few reliable pieces of this offense.<\/p>\n

So the Titans running back plan shifts from \u201cwho do we get for him\u201d to \u201cwhat do we do with him.\u201d We had that conversation Wednesday morning on our A to Z Sports show. Extend him. Let him walk. Re-sign him.<\/p>\n

My answer is simple. I think the Titans should re-sign Tony Pollard. Titans GM Mike Borgonzi<\/a> was asked Wednesday, and he agreed in the want for Pollard back.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"AFC South \u00b7 4th \u00b7 2027 NFL DraftTennessee Titans1-7 \u00b7 Projected 3.2 wins \u00b7 Playoff odds <1%NFL Draft
Odds<\/a>\"\"Next: vs Jaguars \u00b7 Nov 15, 1 PM ET21% to win \u00b7 Avg slot: win 3.6, loss 2.1<\/p>\n

Pollard has to want it, too<\/p>\n

Of course, that only works if Pollard feels the same way. That\u2019s a pretty important part of the equation.<\/p>\n

Easton made a point I agree with. Even if Pollard wants to stay in Nashville, he\u2019s going to test the market. When you\u2019re the top dog at your position heading into free agency, you get the most money. You don\u2019t sign early for a hometown discount. If I\u2019m Tony, I\u2019m not doing it either.<\/p>\n

Pollard told reporters in the locker room Wednesday<\/a> afternoon that he would love to come back to the Titans after this season. The veteran running back cited his affinity for the team, the area and his family proximity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Could a December bonus get a deal done?<\/p>\n

The Titans don\u2019t have to lay out cash on Jeffery Simmons and Amani Hooker the way they did earlier. The dead money still counts against the cap, but the actual cash outlay is no longer a burden.<\/p>\n

That opens the door for something like this (hypothetically): \u201cHey Tony, if we slap another year on your deal, here\u2019s $5 million in December.\u201d Merry Christmas. Call it a holiday bonus.<\/p>\n

It sounds goofy, but this is how a lot of these deals work. Restructuring a contract often means moving money out of game checks and into a bonus. Players LOVE bonuses because that money is due within 21 days of the agreement. Game checks show up when they show up. Cash now beats cash later, every time.<\/p>\n

The one option the Titans should avoid<\/p>\n

The franchise tag came up, and we shot it down immediately. Tagging a running back is estimated to be north of $15 million. That\u2019s the worst thing Tennessee could do here. Definitely don\u2019t do that.<\/p>\n

A tag pays Pollard like a premium position player for one season and buys the Titans nothing long term. A reasonable multi-year deal, sweetened with up-front cash, gets a productive back at a fair price without wrecking the cap sheet.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

What the rest of the Titans running back room should look like<\/p>\n

Re-signing Pollard doesn\u2019t mean the Titans are done at the position. I\u2019d still like to see Tennessee spend a draft pick on a running back to pair with him and develop behind him.<\/p>\n

How high would I go? That\u2019s where Easton and I hit a wall. He can\u2019t give a good answer until he knows who is actually in the draft class, and that\u2019s fair. A running back worth a top pick in one class is a Day 2 value in another.<\/p>\n

My plan looks like this: bring Pollard back on a deal that rewards him now, add a young back through the draft, and stop treating the position as an afterthought. The trade market already told the Titans what Pollard is worth to everyone else\u2026 a fourth-round pick, at best.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s worth a lot more than that to Tennessee. Now we find out if Pollard and the Titans can figure out the right price.<\/p>\n

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Tennessee Titans News<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tTitans Trade Deadline Notebook: How the Amani Hooker deal came together, why Tony Pollard stayed put, and Mike Borgonzi\u2019s job security\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

I spent deadline day talking with folks in and around the league to piece together the Titans\u2019 moves (and non-moves). Here\u2019s what I learned, from the safety market to the backfield.<\/p>\n

\"Play<\/a><\/p>\n

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Tennessee Titans News<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tTennessee Titans 2027 3-round mock draft\u2014Robert Saleh\u2019s defense loads up to bring the vision to life\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

With the Tennessee Titans\u2019 2026 season now at the halfway point, it\u2019s time to ramp up the focus on who could be added to the mix. Here\u2019s a 3-round 2027 NFL mock draft. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Home \/ NFL \/ Tennessee Titans The Titans didn\u2019t get an offer worth more than a fourth-round pick…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1052183,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2061],"tags":[7,6,526,394,2411,527],"class_list":["post-1052182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennessee-titans","tag-football","tag-nfl","tag-tennessee","tag-tennessee-titans","tag-tennesseetitans","tag-titans"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117599636747647016","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1052182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1052182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1052182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1052183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1052182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1052182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1052182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}