With multiple players up for new contracts with the Dallas Cowboys this season, running back Ezekiel Elliott has no desire to wait on getting his. According to reports, Elliott has privately told people he plans on holding out during the team’s training camp without a new contract.
Elliott may sit for a while. The Cowboys have no real reason to budge in keeping Elliott last in the queue. He’s entering the fourth year of his rookie contract and the Cowboys already picked up his fifth-year option. Usually, that means a player can expect a deal sometime in this season before that fifth year starts, but certainly not before camp and definitely not before quarterback Dak Prescott is locked in long term.
JUST IN: Report: Ezekiel Elliott Privately Said He's Planning Training-Camp Holdout: https://t.co/CSeWdekI2M
— 105.3 The FAN (@1053thefan) July 15, 2019
Wide receiver Amari Cooper stands in Elliott’s way as well. Cooper is in his fifth year now after a 75-catch, 1005 yard and seven touchdown 2018 where he helped revitalize Dallas’ passing attack in a midseason trade with the Oakland Raiders.
There can’t be any real sense of urgency for the Cowboys to push Elliott to the front of the line. It’s not a dumb move for Elliott, but Dallas has shown a willingness to not blink before. They let DeMarco Murray hit free agency after the best year of his life. Murray led the league in carries (392), yards (1,845) and touchdowns (13), averaging a league-leading 115.3 yards per game in 2014 and the Cowboys made absolutely no effort to keep him.
Elliott, of course, has been one of the best running backs in the league since the team drafted him out of Ohio State in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He missed six games in 2017 through a controversial suspension, but in his two full seasons he led the league in carries, (322 in 2016 and 304 in 2018) and yards (1,631 in 206 and 1,434 in 2018). In all three of his seasons, he’s led the league in yards per game. Last year, he clocked in a 95.6, which was ironically a career low for him.
