FRISCO, Texas — Ezekiel Elliott has 70 touchdowns in 92 career games, but arguably his greatest NFL score came while he slept.
On Sept. 4, 2019, the Cowboys sent an early-morning email to Alliance Management Group, the sports agency that represents Elliott, with a six-year, $90 million contract offer. The terms were accepted, ending a 40-day holdout and forming a pact that has aged well for Elliott.
No NFL running back will have a higher salary this season than his $12.4 million, which became fully guaranteed in March 2021. At $18.2 million, he counts more against his team’s 2022 salary cap than any other back.
This is the bed the Cowboys made. They have to sleep in it until next year.
A talented group of running backs will share a practice field Tuesday when the Cowboys begin organized team activities (OTAs). The only thing to match the position’s current strength is its future uncertainty, making it one of the most intriguing roster areas to monitor in the months to come.
Elliott and Tony Pollard combined for 453 offensive touches, 2,345 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2021. Elliott has no guaranteed money remaining on his deal starting in 2023, so the Cowboys will have options next offseason on how to handle his contract. Pollard is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in March.
Last month, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones acknowledged the fluidity after the team drafted nine players in three days. None of those selections were a running back, but Jones cited the position as an example of how the front office is future-minded when building a team.
“What’s this roster going to look like two or three years from now in terms of who will be on it?” Jones said. “We looked at a couple running backs because Pollard is going to be free next year, Rico [Dowdle] is going to be restricted, Zeke’s making a lot of money. All those things come into play.”
Elliott, who turns 27 in July, used three years of elite production to leverage his extension in 2019. He is very much still an asset to the Cowboys, but merely pointing to recent numbers to construct that case is no longer viable.
Elliott struggled with ball security in 2020 behind an injury-ravaged offensive line that was already in transition with center Travis Frederick’s retirement, not to mention the Cowboys played 11 games without quarterback Dak Prescott (ankle).
In 2021, he seemed poised for a rebound year, reporting to the team lighter and in top physical shape. His increased lateral explosion was noticeable during the spring and training camp, and it translated with a fast start to the season. A partial PCL tear during a Week 4 win over the Carolina Panthers, however, derailed all that.
While not missing a game, he aggravated the right knee injury on multiple occasions and lumbered for lengthy stretches, playing the final six games with a brace for increased stability. Elliott averaged 81.4 yards from scrimmage per game the past two years compared to 125.4 yards the first four.
If numerical production is what helped Elliott be paid as an elite NFL back, it’s what he will need to produce again in 2022 to preserve his case before the Cowboys return to the table next offseason. Unlike such positions as quarterback and wide receiver, the running back market has stagnated since Elliott’s extension.
In 2023, he is scheduled to receive $11.54 million in salary and count $16.72 million against the salary cap.
Releasing Elliott would not be easy.
First, the Cowboys would be parting from a proven player who has been a consummate teammate despite on-field adversity the past two years that was largely out of his control. In addition, last August, the club performed a simple restructure on his contract to add immediate cap space. One consequence was that cutting Elliott in 2023 would create $5.16 million more in dead money than it would otherwise.
Without going too deep into the hypothetical weeds, the Cowboys would face $11.86 million in dead cap penalty by releasing or trading Elliott in 2023 before June. A post-June 1 release would apply $5.82 million of that hit to 2023, deferring the other $6.04 million to 2024.
Rather than cut Elliott in 2023, the Cowboys could rework his contract in a similar way as they did with defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence in March. This would keep Elliott in Dallas, giving him more guaranteed money and long-term security in exchange for a reduction in pay and cap cost.
Elliott can only control what he control. That means showing at OTAs that his PCL injury is behind him and entering this season in the same sort of physical condition as last season. Coach Mike McCarthy recently indicated Elliott is 100% when a reporter asked about Elliott’s knee during a news conference.
“I would hope so,” McCarthy said two weeks ago. “I was looking at the GPS yesterday of the workouts. ... I mean, 22 miles an hour in May is pretty damn good. So yeah, he looks great.”
A healthy Elliott could score again.
