Getty Ezekiel Elliott
It’s rare in the modern-day NFL for team and player to enjoy a contractual win-win. This is one of those times.
Details are beginning to trickle out on the record-setting eight-year, $102.9 million extension Ezekiel Elliott and the Dallas Cowboys agreed to Wednesday, ending the two-time Pro Bowler’s holdout.
It’s a win for Elliott in that he got his wish of becoming the NFL’s highest-paid RB, eclipsing Todd Gurley. He felt he deserved the historic payday, which includes $50 million in guaranteed money and $37.65 million over the first three years, according to Pro Football Talk.
Elliott also received a $7.5 million signing bonus, $28 million fully guaranteed at signing, and will have collected over $50 million by March 2021.
It’s a win for the Cowboys in that they avoiding frontloading his pact, a structure issue that temporarily stalled negotiations. They also built in multiple “outs,” allowing the club flexibility to move on from Elliott after the 2022 campaign, if they so choose.
For all intents and purposes, the eight-year aspect is window-dressing. It’s really a four-year extension that assuages the superstar’s demands while not torpedoing Dallas’ salary cap. It keeps the club competitive in the long term without kicking the proverbial can too far down the road.
Below is the complete breakdown of Zeke’s new contract, via PFT:
1. Signing bonus: $7.5 million.
2. 2019 base salary: $752,137, fully guaranteed at signing.
3. 2020 base salary: $19.8 million, fully guaranteed at signing. (There’s a $13 million option bonus that triggers the 2026 season; if exercised, the base salary for 2018 reduces to $6.8 million.)
4. 2021 base salary: $9.6 million, guaranteed for injury only at signing. It becomes fully guaranteed on the fifth day of the 2020 league year.
5. 2022 base salary: $12.4 million, guaranteed for injury only at signing. It becomes fully guaranteed on the fifth day of the 2021 league year.
6. 2023 base salary: $10.9 million.
7. 2024 base salary: $10 million.
8. 2025 base salary: $15.4 million.
9. 2026 base salary: $16.6 million.
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Jerry Justifies Massive Deal
Despite being $100 million lighter, as he put it, the Cowboys’ owner explained in detail why the organization pressed to strike an agreement with the reigning NFL rushing champion, who missed the entirety of training camp and preseason.
This, while Dallas’ other contract-seekers — such as walk-year quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver Amari Cooper — are left to cool on the back-burner, waiting … waiting … for their turn at the negotiating table.
“Zeke has been arguably our best player,” Jones said, per ESPN’s Todd Archer. “I’m not trying to be unfair to anybody else, but he’s an incremental part to our success. We’re glad to get him booked in. We’re glad to have him on the team. He plays a position that has some pretty interesting dynamics to it because running backs are short-lived, although we had what I consider to be one of the top five greatest ones in Emmitt Smith. And Emmitt ran the ball for 13 years, so you don’t have to have a four- or five-year career to be a running back. On the other hand, Zeke allows us to create such problems for the defense that he can open it up to our passing, open it up for Dak Prescott. Of course, we’ve got to have some guys on defense to get those guys the ball. That’s what this is all about.”
Nothing Doing on Dak
Although a recent report claimed Prescott could put pen to paper this week, the franchise signal-caller reports “nothing new” on this front, per NFL Network, one day after the Rams handed Jared Goff the most guaranteed money for a QB in league history.
Holding court with the media for the first time this summer, Elliott urged the Cowboys to get more aggressive with Prescott, tying the two together for, perhaps, the remainder of their careers.
“I want to see it get done,” he said, per The Athletic. “I want to play with him for the rest of my career.”
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Follow Zack Kelberman on Twitter: @KelbermanNFL