How potential franchise tags for Josh Jacobs, Tony Pollard impact Bears’ chance to re-sign David Montgomery

The 2023 free-agent running back market is about to thin out. According to reports from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero, the Las Vegas Raiders and Dallas Cowboys are preparing to use the franchise tag on Josh Jacobs and Tony Pollard if long-term deals can’t be reached by the March 7 deadline.

If both running backs are tagged — or signed to multi-year deals by their teams — the odds Chicago Bears running back David Montgomery returns in 2023 drop quite a bit.

Jacobs, who entered the NFL as a first-round pick in the same draft year as Montgomery, finished the 2022 season as the league’s leading rusher with 1,653 yards and 12 touchdowns.

The #Raiders plan to place the franchise tag on star RB Josh Jacobs if the sides don’t reach a deal by Tuesday’s deadline, per sources.

The NFL’s leading rusher last season, Jacobs is viewed as a part of the future in Las Vegas. pic.twitter.com/B91YRDnZE3

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 3, 2023

Pollard had the best season of his career last year. He eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards for the first time (1,007). He scored 12 total touchdowns.

The #Cowboys will franchise tag RB Tony Pollard if the two sides cannot work out a long-term deal by the Tuesday deadline, sources say. Dallas has been clear the tag is an option, and they aren’t in the business of letting great players walk. Pollard will be there in 2023.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 4, 2023

With both running backs likely off the open market, teams searching for new starters will have fewer options. New York Giants star Saquon Barkley remains a possibility, but rumors from the NFL Combine suggest QB Daniel Jones is on the verge of signing a lucrative contract. If he signs before March 7, New York can franchise Barkley and keep him in a Giants uniform for at least 2023.

Miles Sanders, the Philadelphia Eagles starter who ran for 1,269 yards In 2022, should hit the open market. At this point, he might be the only running back who appeals to more teams than Montgomery.

Daniel Bartel-USA TODAY

David Montgomery will benefit from a thinner free-agent RB market

Now that the market for David Montgomery’s services has expanded, his price tag will increase. The higher it goes, the less likely GM Ryan Poles will be able to match his offer and keep him in Chicago.

Poles has consistently expressed his affection for Montgomery but has cautioned fans about the business side of football. It’s the same rhetoric he used during the Roquan Smith negotiations, we all know how that went.

The emergence of Khalil Herbert, who’s looked like the most explosive running back on the Chicago Bears roster for the last two seasons, complicates the issue.

Herbert is entering the third year of his rookie contract. Chicago has control over his rights for the next two seasons at, essentially, the lowest cost for a starting running back. It would be foolish for Poles to pay upwards of $7 million per season for Montgomery, who’d begin the 2023 season as arguably the second-best running back on the team.

This isn’t meant to suggest there’s no chance that David Montgomery will re-sign with the Chicago Bears. But the higher he climbs on the free-agent running back rankings, the less likely he’ll be donning No. 32 at Soldier field next fall.

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