Jerry Jones Cracks Hilarious Joke about Signing Zeke Elliott [WATCH]

Jerry Jones, Ezekiel Elliott

Getty The Dallas Cowboys are moving on from Ezekiel Elliott.

Jerry Jones is on record as feeling like he earned the right to joke with Ezekiel Elliott. The Dallas Cowboys owner exercised that right Wednesday morning, after Elliott agreed to a record-setting contract extension.

“I just turned my pockets out, upstairs,” Jones said in an appearance on CNBC. “It means I’m $100 million lighter this morning.”

According to multiple reports, Elliott received a six-year extension worth $90 million, a staggering $50 million of which is guaranteed. He surpassed Todd Gurley as the NFL’s highest-paid running back at $15 million average annual value, and is now tied to the Cowboys through 2026.

The accord ended a long, highly-publicized holdout in which Elliott defected to Cabo San Lucas, where he trained alongside Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk. Zeke missed the entirety of training camp and the preseason in protest of his contract.

Elliott, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, has proven throughout the early stages of his career that he’s one of, if not the NFL’s best back, deserving of his newfound riches. The two-time rushing champion has racked up 4,408 yards on 868 attempts (4.7 yards per carry) while scoring 28 touchdowns on the ground across 40 games.

Not only has Zeke been stellar as a runner, but he’s also excelled as a pass-catcher. Specifically during his league-leading 2018 season, when he hauled in 77 of 95 targets for 567 yards and three TDs, bringing his career total to 1,199 receiving yards and six scores.

Jerry may have jokes, but there’s nothing funny about Elliott’s value to the team.

“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.”

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Playing Time Plan

Elliott trained hard in Cabo, reportedly cutting his weight to its lowest mark since 2016. But there’s a huge difference between physique and football shape, and he’ll need to reintegrate into the latter — quickly.

While Elliott will play in Sunday’s season-opener against the Giants, he might not handle his usual workload. Per NFL Network’s Jane Slater, “the plan right now” is for Elliott to see 20-25 snaps in Week 1, allowing him primarily to shake the holdout rust off. The remainder of touches will be divvied between rookie Tony Pollard and veteran Alfred Morris.


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Follow Zack Kelberman on Twitter: @KelbermanNFL