Ezekiel Elliott Went to Bed in a 'Bad Place' Before Waking up to His New Contract
As the contract talks between the Dallas Cowboys and running back Ezekiel Elliott were heating up, [...]
As the contract talks between the Dallas Cowboys and running back Ezekiel Elliott were heating up, the questions began swirling about how far apart were the two parties. According to reports, the negotiations were tense and suffered multiple setbacks over Labor Day weekend, but not everyone believed all of those reports. There were many fans that actually thought that the deal has been done for a while, but the Cowboys were simply waiting for the right time to unveil it.
Well, Zeke put an end to those discussions on Wednesday when he met with reporters at the team facility. As he explained, flying back to Dallas from Cabo didn't guarantee that the contract was going to happen. The negotiations still remained contentious at times, and he actually went to bed in a "bad place" on Tuesday night.
However, the situation changed around 4 a.m. and Zeke became a very wealthy man.
Ezekiel Elliott says he went to bed last night in a “bad place” with negotiations ongoing. Deal was finalized about 4 a.m. “So waking up and getting that call and being able to come in this morning and see these guys was special.” Oh, and it took a coupla calls to wake him up. pic.twitter.com/RAksKocyvT
— Schuyler Dixon (@apschuyler) September 4, 2019
Interestingly enough, Zeke actually didn't find out that the deal had been successfully negotiated as early as his representatives would have liked. They tried calling him around 6 a.m., but he didn't initially answer. It actually took a few phone calls to wake up Zeke and let him know that he would be able to rejoin his team for Wednesday's practice.
Fortunately, the calls did get through, and he was able to head over to The Star. This prevented him from sleeping in and missing practice, a la Ryan Mallett of the 2015 Houston Texans. As Zeke explained, this was a very special moment for him because he was able to see the teammates that had been supporting him throughout the holdout.
With Elliott back in the building, this Cowboys squad is now complete. The entire starting offense is back together and will be ready to take on the promising 2019 campaign. Winning the division and securing a spot in the playoffs is the first priority, but that won't be the only goal. The Cowboys have faith that this team is stacked with talent and will be able to make a deep run in the postseason.
The Dallas Cowboys clearly have their sights set on Super Bowl LIV, and securing a spot in the Big Game has now been made more realistic due to Zeke answering his phone in the wee hours of the morning.