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Agent's Take: Here's how the Ezekiel Elliott, Cowboys stalemate could be solved
If Dallas is willing to give Zeke a couple of wins in negotiations, a deal could get done
Elliott, who didn't report for the start of Cowboys training camp on July 26, has been working out in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico during his holdout. The 2016 first-round pick has been insistent that he won't play this season unless he gets a new deal. Elliott is under contract through the 2020 season after the Cowboys exercised their fifth-year option on him. He is scheduled to make $3,853,137 this season and $9.099 million in 2020.
ESPN's Ed Werder reported last week that Dallas has an offer on the table between Le'Veon Bell's $13.125 million per year with the Jets and the $14.375 million per year the Rams gave Todd Gurley, which would make Elliott the NFL's second-highest-paid running back. Jones doesn't want to sign Elliott to a market-setting contract like the Saints recently did for wide receiver Michael Thomas. The same goes for quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver Amari Cooper, who have also been negotiating with the Cowboys. Thomas' contract extension averaging $19.25 million per year is a 6.25 percent increase over the $18 million per year extension Odell Beckham, Jr. received from the Giants last season. The only way Thomas gets to the $20 million per year that was initially reported is by hitting all of his performance bonuses, which require him to keep consistently performing like he has in his three NFL seasons.
Jones was singing a different tune regarding Elliott in late February at the combine. "He's right there at the top of the best in the business, if not the best," Jones said at the time. "We certainly saw what Gurley got paid, and we know that's probably where it starts and we'll go from there." Jones' new stance essentially is Bell is a more accurate barometer of a top running back's value because he got his deal on the open market in free agency, when every team had a chance to sign him.
I have an idea for how the Cowboys should attempt to end the contract stalemate with Elliott. Before we get to it, let's put the running back market in better context, as well as explore Dallas' treatment of highly productive first-round picks they drafted since the rookie wage scale was implemented in 2011.
Defining the top of the running back market
Three contracts define the top of the running back market. In addition to the Bell and Gurley deals, David Johnson signed a three-year, $39 million extension containing $31,882,500 of guarantees hours before the Cardinals' 2018 regular season opener. The following chart compares the three deals in a few key contract metrics.
If Dallas is willing to give Zeke a couple of wins in negotiations, a deal could get done
- by Joel Corry
- @corryjoel
- Aug 28, 2019 at 3:36 pm ET • 10 min read
Elliott, who didn't report for the start of Cowboys training camp on July 26, has been working out in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico during his holdout. The 2016 first-round pick has been insistent that he won't play this season unless he gets a new deal. Elliott is under contract through the 2020 season after the Cowboys exercised their fifth-year option on him. He is scheduled to make $3,853,137 this season and $9.099 million in 2020.
ESPN's Ed Werder reported last week that Dallas has an offer on the table between Le'Veon Bell's $13.125 million per year with the Jets and the $14.375 million per year the Rams gave Todd Gurley, which would make Elliott the NFL's second-highest-paid running back. Jones doesn't want to sign Elliott to a market-setting contract like the Saints recently did for wide receiver Michael Thomas. The same goes for quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver Amari Cooper, who have also been negotiating with the Cowboys. Thomas' contract extension averaging $19.25 million per year is a 6.25 percent increase over the $18 million per year extension Odell Beckham, Jr. received from the Giants last season. The only way Thomas gets to the $20 million per year that was initially reported is by hitting all of his performance bonuses, which require him to keep consistently performing like he has in his three NFL seasons.
Jones was singing a different tune regarding Elliott in late February at the combine. "He's right there at the top of the best in the business, if not the best," Jones said at the time. "We certainly saw what Gurley got paid, and we know that's probably where it starts and we'll go from there." Jones' new stance essentially is Bell is a more accurate barometer of a top running back's value because he got his deal on the open market in free agency, when every team had a chance to sign him.
I have an idea for how the Cowboys should attempt to end the contract stalemate with Elliott. Before we get to it, let's put the running back market in better context, as well as explore Dallas' treatment of highly productive first-round picks they drafted since the rookie wage scale was implemented in 2011.
Defining the top of the running back market
Three contracts define the top of the running back market. In addition to the Bell and Gurley deals, David Johnson signed a three-year, $39 million extension containing $31,882,500 of guarantees hours before the Cardinals' 2018 regular season opener. The following chart compares the three deals in a few key contract metrics.