Ezekiel Elliott appears to be willing to miss regular season games as he continues to demand a new contract from the Dallas Cowboys, but that does not mean the star running back is thinking about playing for another team.
Unlike Melvin Gordon, who is also holding out for a new contract with the Los Angeles Chargers, Elliott has not given the Cowboys an ultimatum or demanded a trade. He simply wants a fair market deal. In fact, he reiterated in an interview with Keith Gordon of Maxim that he loves playing in Dallas and wants to be a Cowboy for life.
“I love playing for the Dallas Cowboys, I love the organization, my teammates. I do want to be a Cowboy for the rest of my life and hopefully that’s a possibility,” Elliott said. “But even Emmitt Smith, the greatest running back ever, ended up going to play a couple of years for another organization. So it’s just the nature of the game, but I want to be a Dallas Cowboy for as long as I can.”
Elliott’s holdout has drawn natural comparisons to the ugly situation between Le’Veon Bell and the Pittsburgh Steelers, but there are many differences. The Steelers used the franchise tag on Bell, so he was not technically under contract with the team because he never signed the tender. They also likely knew he was going to depart in free agency last offseason because they were unwilling to meet his financial demands. Elliott, on the other hand, has two years remaining on his rookie deal. Not only that, but he does not appear to be that far apart in contract talks with Dallas.
Elliott also spoke with Maxim about how contracts like the four-year, $60 million deal Todd Gurley signed with the Los Angeles Rams have helped rejuvenate the running back position. It’s no secret that he wants Gurley money or higher, but many feel the Rams overpaid.
While it may seem like Elliott is not on good terms with the Cowboys because he is working out on his own and was openly offended by a comment Jerry Jones made, that is all part of a contract negotiation. The two sides are motivated, so a deal should come sooner rather than later.
