Ezekiel Elliott wants a new contract from the Dallas Cowboys, and if he doesn't get it, he may hold out of training camp…and possibly beyond.
We have seen this before. Le'Veon Bell twice held out of training camp with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2017 and 2018. The first time, Bell sat through Week 1 of the regular season before finally returning in Week 2. But the latter year? Bell missed the entire season.
So, running backs holding out for an entire year is not without precedent, and while we don't know for sure if the Cowboys have to worry about that with Elliott, the fact remains that it has happened before.
That begs the question: should Dallas seriously consider trading its star halfback?
Elliott is actually under contract for the next two years, as he is scheduled to make $3.8 million this coming season and $9.1 million in 2020. But Elliott seems to be worried about being overused before he is up for a new deal, which is entirely understandable.
After all, the 24-year-old has led the NFL in carries in two of his first three seasons, and had it not been for a six-game suspension that limited him to 10 contests in 2017, who knows? He may have paced the league in rushing attempts all three years.
The career lifespan of an NFL running back is not typically a long one, and you can see why: running backs take an absolute beating on a week-to-week basis, and generally, they are well past their primes by the time they hit 30.
And while Elliott is still young, all of that pounding will certainly take a toll on him and will almost definitely put a cap on the amount of time he can play the game at a high level, so you can't blame him for wanting to cash in now.
The problem for the Cowboys is that Elliott is a huge part of their offense. As much as I like Dak Prescott as a person and as a leader, he is not a great quarterback and is more of a glorified game manager than anything else at this stage. Dallas does have some good weapons in the passing game and a solid offensive line, but outside of Elliott, nothing on the Cowboys' offense truly scares opposing defenses.
With Dallas heading into 2019 with Super Bowl aspirations, trading Elliott would immediately torpedo its chances, as the Cowboys would be losing one of the league's best running backs and would be severely handicapping their offense in the process.
Yes, I understand that teams don't pay running backs as much of a premium anymore, so it would not be all that advisable for Dallas to pay through the nose to keep Elliott happy, but at the same time, the Cowboys need to take advantage of their current opportunity to make some noise.
This is an excellent football team that is capable of making a deep playoff run, but Elliott has to be on the roster for that to happen. Sure, Dallas can trade him for a couple of draft picks and punt to the future, instead of focusing on paying Prescott and Amari Cooper, but in the short term, it would all but certainly ruin any chance the Cowboys have of winning a championship.
The best bet for Dallas would be to stick this thing out with Elliott and either hope he caves by Week 1 or that it can reach an agreement with Elliott that will compensate him well without crippling the team's financial situation.
Based on how much money Elliott seems to be looking for, that might be a difficult compromise to make, but there is still plenty of time between now and the regular season, so hopefully, both sides can come to a resolution.
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