The Dallas Cowboys signed Ezekiel Elliott to a massive six-year, $90 million contract extension in 2019. While the star running back put up Pro Bowl numbers in 2019 with 1,357 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns, his putrid start to the 2020 season is making the extension look pretty bad.
Through the Cowboys' first six games of the 2020 season, Elliott has carried the ball 101 times for just 413 yards. While he does have five touchdowns, Elliott doesn’t have a 100-yard rushing performance under new head coach Mike McCarthy, which is the longest such streak of his NFL career.
Six games into the season and #Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott still doesn’t have a 100-yard rushing performance under Mike McCarthy – the longest such streak of his NFL career. https://t.co/Ad0wBNw9Ao
— Ed Werder (@WerderEdESPN) October 21, 2020
To make matters even worse, Elliott can't hold on to the ball. He's already put the ball on the ground five times this season, which leads the NFL.
The Cowboys used to have one of the best offensive lines in the NFL, but that's not the case anymore. Instead of giving Elliott his monster extension, Jerry Jones probably should have spent more money on his O-line and locked up quarterback Dak Prescott for the long-term since the quarterback position is more important than the RB slot.
Elliott is most likely going to struggle to run the ball all season in 2020. Opposing defenses are going to stack the box since Cowboys passer Andy Dalton is washed up and doesn't scare secondaries anymore. With no holes to run through, Elliott won't be able to break off those long runs we have seen from him before. He's only averaging 4.1 rushing yards per attempt and 68.8 rushing yards per game in 2020.
The Cowboys are paying Elliott to be a superstar running back, but he's likely going to finish the season with below-average numbers. Zeke has a base salary of $6.8 million this season and that's only going to rise moving forward. History has shown us that running backs without a quarterback who can stretch the field are basically useless in today's NFL.
Plus, Elliott already has a lot of miles on his legs and could get worn down well before he turns 30, the age most running backs begin to lose a step.
The Cowboys are still confident that Elliott can turn his season around and round into form sooner rather than later. Dallas plays in the NFC East, the worst division in football. So, no matter how putrid Dalton and the team's defense are, the Cowboys can still somehow win the division and host a playoff game since the New York Giants, Washington Football Team and Philadelphia Eagles are terrible.
For now, though, Ezekiel Elliott doesn't look like that explosive runner we saw to begin his career and the contract extension he signed doesn't look like it was a good move by the Cowboys' brass. In hindsight, Dallas should have waited to sign Elliott to an extension and taken care of Prescott first since Dak is the most valuable player on the Cowboys.
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