Quinshon Judkins left MetLife Stadium on Sunday with a tweaked right ankle, and the Cleveland Browns’ search for a dependable ground game got a little harder. Now one of the league’s most available running backs is being pointed toward Cleveland: Tennessee Titans veteran Tony Pollard.
Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox named the Browns as a potential suitor for Pollard on his latest trade block big board, ranking him ninth among his top 10 candidates and projecting a conditional 2027 fifth-round pick as the price. Knox pointed to a running back injury list that grew in Week 5, with Judkins on it. ESPN’s Adam Schefter said earlier this month that Pollard could be the first call teams make.
Why Tony Pollard fits the Browns
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Head coach Todd Monken said Judkins is considered day to day, and the second-year back was already averaging just 3.0 yards per carry on 73 attempts before he got hurt. Dylan Sampson has been on injured reserve with a knee injury since Sept. 15, though Monken called a return this week a possibility. Cleveland ran for 96 yards in the 17-12 loss to the Jets, and Monken didn’t hide what that cost the offense.
“We got to be able to run the football to control the game. It starts up front,” Monken said after the loss to the Jets.
Pollard would give the Browns a proven option either way. He has run for 1,000 yards in each of the past four seasons, including 1,082 last year, and has 273 yards and a touchdown on 68 carries for a 0-5 Titans team this fall. PFF grades Pollard 12th of 44 qualifying running backs with a 71.0 overall mark, and he has forced 10 missed tackles. He has also been losing snaps to Tyjae Spears in Tennessee.
The cost is manageable. Pollard carries a $6.74 million base salary in the final year of his deal, and Cleveland has about $14.1 million in cap space, per Over the Cap. The Browns also own three fourth-round picks in 2027. For a 3-2 team that has Browns fans along the lakefront thinking about the AFC North, a mid-round pick for a back who can carry the load through January is the kind of call worth making before the Nov. 10 deadline.
