Report: Ezekiel Elliott, Cowboys ‘not close’ on new contract

The Dallas Cowboys are set to begin training camp on Friday, and Ezekiel Elliott is not expected to be on the field as he continues to seek a long-term contract extension. While the two sides have discussed a new deal, it seems unlikely that an agreement will be reached in the near future.

Just hours before the Cowboys officially kicked off training camp, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reported that Elliott and the team are “not close” to a long-term deal.

#Cowboys players have their conditioning run in a few hours, and still no sign of RB Ezekiel Elliott. But Dallas brass and Elliott’s agents have had some contract extension talks, I’m told. It’s not close. But there have been discussions. pic.twitter.com/Q5TLB4YkJ3

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 26, 2019

There has been all kinds of conflicting information about Elliott’s potential holdout, with some saying the star running back is unlikely to skip training camp whether he gets a new contract or not.

Elliott, who racked up more than 2,000 total yards from scrimmage in 2018, has two years remaining on his rookie contract. He is set to make $3.85 million this season and $9 million in 2020. He obviously wants to be paid like one of the top running backs in football, which means he is looking for something in the $13 or $14 million per year range that Todd Gurley, Le’Veon Bell and David Johnson make.

While he got himself into some more trouble off the field this offseason, Elliott is not facing disciplinary action from the NFL.