Dallas Cowboys star running back Ezekiel Elliott could be seeing a lot of money coming his way very soon. According Mike Fisher of Maven Sports, the Cowboys have offered a deal to Elliott that would put in him in the “Todd Gurley” range. Gurley, the running back for the Los Angeles Rams, is earning an average yearly salary of $14 million so Elliott could become no worse than the second-highest-paid running back in the league.
Elliott is doing everything he can to get ready for the upcoming season. But the only problem is he’s not with the team and has not practiced with the team throughout training camp as he’s holding out for a new deal. The good news for Cowboys fans is a deal should be done before the season beings next week.
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“From what I understand, this deal is getting done,” NFL reporter Jeff Darlington said on the ESPN show Get Up. “This is a win for Ezekiel Elliott. If he gets the big pay-bump this year and doesn’t have to hold out next year or even the year after that, this is a win for Ezekiel Elliott. He will be back by Week One.”
That said, Maxim Magazine recently released an interview they did with Elliott over the summer, and he said he wanted to say in Dallas for the rest of his career.
“I love playing for the Dallas Cowboys, I love the organization, my teammates. I do want to be a Cowboy for the rest of my life and hopefully that’s a possibility,” Elliott said. “But even Emmitt Smith, the greatest running back ever, ended up going to play a couple of years for another organization. So it’s just the nature of the game, but I want to be a Dallas Cowboy for as long as I can.”
Currently, the Ohio State alum has two years remaining on his current deal and he’s scheduled to make $3.8 million this season and more than $9 million on his fifth-year option in 2020. But with Elliott emerging as one of the top running backs in the league he wants to get paid like it.
In Elliott’s three seasons in the NFL, he has led the league rushing twice. In 2018, Elliott was the rushing champion, recording 1,434 yards and six touchdowns on 304 carries. In his rookie season in 2016, the Elliott tallied 1,631 yards and 15 touchdowns on 322 carries.