This is the type standoff Jerry Jones doesn’t mind losing. Jones couldn’t afford the optics of beginning a season without his most talented offensive player, and that’s how Zeke Elliott became the highest-paid running back in league history, to the tune of $50 million guaranteed.
With only three days to prepare for the opener against the New York Giants, the Cowboys ran out of wiggle room. You can’t build an offense around one player and then show up without him. Elliott never lost the support of his teammates because they know the sacrifices he’s willing to make. The Cowboys actually used the public conflict to their advantage while doing “team friendly” deals with Jaylon Smith and La’el Collins.
Elliott essentially jumped ahead of Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper in negotiations. The good news is neither of those players seem overly concerned. Prescott will soon be making somewhere in the neighborhood of Jared Goff’s brand-new contract that gives him $32 million per season. Elliott may be a bit rusty in the opener, but he appears to be in good condition. It’s funny how little anyone has talked about the actual matchup with the Giants, but that’s the nature of the Cowboys. Jerry didn’t sound like a beaten man at all while making a TV appearance in New York on Wednesday morning.
“Zeke has been arguably our best player,” Jones said on CNBC. “I’m not trying to be unfair to anybody else, but he’s an incremental part to our success. We’re glad to get him booked in. We’re glad to have him on the team. He plays a position that has some pretty interesting dynamics to it because running backs are short-lived, although we had what I consider to be one of the top five greatest ones in Emmitt Smith.
“And Emmitt ran the ball for 13 years, so you don’t have to have a four- or five-year career to be a running back. On the other hand Zeke allows us to create such problems for the defense that that he can open it up to our passing, open it up for Dak Prescott. Of course we’ve got to have some guys on defense to get those guys the ball. That’s what this is all about.”
Jones believes he has the talent to compete for a Super Bowl, and for once he may be right. Elliott will now have a $50-million target on his back, but I don’t see it having a negative effect on him. Jerry’s feelings seemed to be hurt that Elliott took such a hardline stance in this negotiation, but that will go away quickly.
Jerry blinked first in this staredown, and everyone in the organization benefits. Oh yeah, the Giants come to town Sunday.