Bob Sturm of The Athletic explains in a current piece that scouts are whispering that Dallas Cowboys operating again Ezekiel Elliott is finished — with out truly saying it. “He has very little left in his legs, and the word is out.” So, in different phrases, scouts are noticing what a lot of the soccer world has identified for at the least the previous couple of years.
Zeke is now a short-yardage “specialist”
At one time, Elliott was a workhorse operating again carrying the ball 20 plus instances per recreation and was lowered to nothing greater than a short-yardage “specialist” in the course of the 2022 marketing campaign. Elliott was hampered by accidents this season which pressured him to overlook two video games and acquire simply 876 yards on the bottom and three.8 yards per carry. Both had been the bottom of his seven-year NFL profession.
Quite frankly, Zeke is a backup operating again making big-time starter cash. That’s the one solution to view it now. There’s no query that Tony Pollard is the person in Dallas’ backfield, and Elliott is citing the rear. While Elliott did contact the endzone 12 instances in ‘22, all those touchdowns came in the red zone. Many from within the five-yard line. It’s nice that Elliott has accepted his new function within the Cowboys’ offense, however using a $90 million again to play on brief yardage downs and block within the passing recreation isn’t sustainable.
G/O Media could get a fee
Zeke is scheduled to make just below $11 million in base wage for 2023, however is outwardly keen to take a pay lower if which means he can keep in Dallas. I can’t completely agree with gamers providing up pay cuts, however after they do, administration can be silly to not take them up on the supply. NFL gamers ought to get each penny they’ll, however Elliott’s worth has tanked a lot that Jerry Jones and the Cowboys are the one franchise that covets the previous All-Pro ball service. Even if Zeke takes the pay lower in Dallas, he’s prone to make greater than he would wherever else within the league.
Running on E-mpty
This day has been a very long time coming. You might see some slippage with Elliott going again so far as 2020. Less explosiveness and lack of wiggles had begun to turn into obvious. Elliott had a little bit of a bounce again in ‘21, hitting the 1,000-yard threshold, although it took him all 17 games to go over the mark by two yards. Paying a running back over $10 million a year to rush for 1,002 or fewer yards, which Elliott accomplished the past three years, is absurd in today’s NFL.
Any different group would lower its losses and transfer on from Elliott. But Jones might be loyal to a fault with some gamers, and typically it impedes their progress. We’re always listening to about how a lot Jones desires to win once more. But his actions don’t all the time match that vitality. They’ve held onto Zeke for too lengthy, traded away Amari Cooper, and may’t ever determine a solution to signal star free brokers (Von Miller) who need to play in Dallas.
Other groups determine methods across the wage cap, however Jones acts like he can’t do the identical. Elliott has been finished as a premier again for at the least three years now, and it’s time to maneuver on. If there’s a solution to work out one thing together with his contract that frees up cap house for Dallas, that’s what must occur. But we’ve identified for a while that Elliott is now not that grind it out go to again in big-game conditions. If the Cowboys consider Pollard is their major man now, they should roll with it and discover a manner out of paying Elliott a lot towards the cap.