The Tennessee Titans have reportedly added one of their replacements for running back Derrick Henry in former Dallas Cowboys back Tony Pollard, a bit of a surprise signing to kick off the Titans' moves in NFL free agency.

The Titans will reportedly pay Pollard $24 million over three years, a contract that — as of Monday — is one of the 10 biggest for a running back in the NFL. Pollard turns 27 in April and has rushed for more than 1,000 yards each of the last two seasons but doesn't have as much tread on his legs as some of the other top backs who were available this offseason.

With only one year as a primary starter in Dallas, expect Pollard to come in and split reps with second-year Titans back Tyjae Spears instead of emerging as RB1 in coach Brian Callahan's Titans offense.

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Here is The Tennessean's grade for the Tony Pollard signing.

Why Tony Pollard to the Tennessee Titans makes sense

Pollard played his high school and college football in Memphis, so this signing is something of a homecoming. He's also just a solid, modern running back. He's rushed for 1,007 and 1,005 yards the last two years, averaging 4.5 yards per attempt in that span. But he's also caught 94 passes for 682 yards in those two seasons, an average of 2.8 catches per game.

Signing Pollard shows the Titans are doubling down on running backs who can be effective in the pass game, even if they are of similar builds. Pollard is listed at 6-foot, 209 pounds and Spears is 5-foot-10, 200 pounds and also thrives in the pass game. Pollard was much better in 2022 when he was splitting carries with Ezekiel Elliott than he was in 2023 as the Cowboys' feature back, so bringing him in to split carries is likely a huge positive.

The negatives of Tennessee Titans signing Tony Pollard

If Pollard is in fact coming in to split carries with Spears, that's a lot of money to commit to a part-time rusher. The ability to rotate is nice, but it's not a particularly diversifying decisions since Pollard and Spears do a lot of similar things.

It's going to be interesting to see how much money running backs a little lower down the totem pole such as Zack Moss and A.J. Dillon will command and if the Titans would've been better off saving money on a cheaper second running back. But for now, the move seems to indicate the Titans prefer Spears as a platoon back than as a true No. 1 since Pollard is making starter money.

Our grade for Tennessee Titans signing Tony Pollard: B-

Rotating running backs is good. Having the flexibility to run base offense no matter what running back is on the field is also good. Pollard, for lack of a better word, is good. Being able to use him and Spears interchangeably makes the Titans' offense run a lot differently than it did with Spears and Henry, and that's important as Callahan enters into a new era.

The money the Titans are devoting to the running back position is a little higher than expected, especially with so many needs elsewhere on offense and defense. But if the Titans are using this money to bring in a player who rushes for 1,000 yards and catches roughly 50 passes, there's plenty of room to understand why.

Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @nicksuss.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Titans sign RB Tony Pollard in NFL free agency: Our grade