Former NFL running back Chris Johnson knows about coming back from a holdout, and he thinks that Dallas Cowboys back Ezekiel Elliott could be in line for a bad year. Johnson held out of training camp in 2011 looking for a new deal and learned quickly just how behind he was.
Johnson told TMZ Sports that until you are out on the field, you are never really in football shape.
“You can train all you want to train, but until you're actually out there playing football and doing all those stuff and instant moves and stuff, you'll never be in football shape until you do it.”
Johnson said in 2011 that it took him six games until he felt right on the field, and it caused him to struggle early in the season. He did finish with 1,047 yards rushing on the season, but only four touchdowns and part of that could have been caused by the holdout.
Johnson said his advice to Jerry Jones and the rest of the Cowboys would be to get the contract extension done quickly and get Elliott on the field with his teammates so he doesn't feel so behind when he does finally report to the team.
Elliott has threatened to hold out into the regular season, but as Dan Graziano of ESPN pointed out, it's highly unlikely he will sit the entire season because it won't actually help him.
Start with Elliott, the only one of the Dallas Cowboys’ three contract-hungry stars who is sitting out of training camp until he gets a new deal. As our Todd Archer pointed out a few days ago, the main reason it wouldn’t make sense for Elliott to sit out the whole season is that it would have no impact on his contract situation. His contract would “toll,” meaning the $3.853 million he is scheduled to earn this year would become his 2020 salary, and the $9.099 million he is scheduled to earn in 2020 would become his 2021 salary. He would end up right back where he started.
This is a story that will continue to be talked about by others until a new contract is in hand, and Elliott is with the Cowboys.
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