NFC Notes: Tony Pollard, Cowboys, Eagles, Giants, Saquon Barkley

Cowboys

• PFN’s Tony Pauline notes the buzz at the Senior Bowl was that the Cowboys would franchise tag RB Tony Pollard as they worked on a long-term deal and negotiate a pay cut with RB Ezekiel Elliott to try and keep the tandem together.
• The franchise tag for running backs will reportedly be a reasonable $10,091,000 fully guaranteed for the 2023 season.
• We have him included in our Top 100 – 2023 NFL Free Agents list.

Eagles

Eagles HC Nick Sirianni admitted that he’s held a chip on his shoulder ever since Chiefs HC Andy Reid let him go after taking over the team in 2012.

“Do you always have this little chip on your shoulder? Sure, yeah, you do,” Sirianni said, via ESPN. “But that’s who I am as a coach and as a person — I want to make sure I’m working my butt off to get as good as I possibly can. And sure, you hold on to some of those things.”

Despite not being retained by Reid, Sirianni admitted that he still holds him in high regard and respects the way that he informed him of his departure

“Andy came in because we weren’t good enough in Kansas City. And he stepped in and did an unbelievable job,” Sirianni said. “What I appreciated is that he brought everyone in and talked to them. I didn’t coach with Andy, but he gave me a good example of what to do with a hard part of the job of: ‘Hey, I got a guy here.’ He was complimentary. He knew I would be down, so he gave me strength when I was down. I appreciated that, and it sounds like that’s who he is as a person and a coach.”

Sirianni believes that losing his job helped him grow as a person and as a coach, even though when his next team, the Chargers, beat the Chiefs, he took a little extra satisfaction.

“I was in the press box standing on the [table] like this [waves arms and pumps fist]. I was just so emotional about it,” he said. “But as time goes on and you mature and you think about it, ‘Hey, I needed to go through that, I needed to be in this situation.’ In a sense, you thank God for the things you had to go through because it makes you who you are today.”

“Did I want to leave Kansas City? No. My future wife was from there, we were engaged at the time, she had a nice teaching job there, she had all her friends there, her mom and dad were a half-hour down the road. Of course I didn’t want to leave there,” Sirianni said. “But when I look at it, God’s always put me in great positions and guided my paths. I know I don’t say stuff like that all the time, but I know he has. And so, I needed to go to San Diego to learn, to be at a different spot, to be out of a comfort zone, potentially, to meet Frank Reich. To separate there and then go be his coordinator in Indianapolis. Everything happens for a reason.”

• According to Field Yates, Eagles DTs Ndamukong Suh and Linval Joseph will each earn $125,000 with a win and 30 percent playing time.

Giants

• PFN’s Tony Pauline notes the buzz at the Senior Bowl was optimistic about the chances of the Giants and RB Saquon Barkley reaching an agreement on an extension before free agency. 
• The franchise tag for running backs will reportedly be $10,091,000 fully guaranteed for the 2023 season.
• We have Barkley included in our Top 100 – 2023 NFL Free Agents list.