Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones signed running back Ezekiel Elliott to a massive contract right before the start of the 2019 season. But was he able to pay Elliott with his investment in natural gas? Jones was recently on Fox News to talk about Elliott signing and his business ventures, discussing how he was able to make a fortune by getting into the oil and gas industry. It led to him starting his own firm Jones Oil and Land Lease at 25 years which eventually led to investing in Comstock which is an oil and gas exploration company.
“I got into things when [industry demand] was soft, or not necessarily in favor, that’s how I bought the Cowboys,” Jones said. “Earlier in my career, I got into natural gas when everybody was getting out.”
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Wednesday is the day Elliott signed his six-year, $90 million contract extension. It was also the same day Comstock bought Covey Park Energy which was a $2.2 billion deal and Jones’ fortune grew $100 million. So you could say the Cowboys owner broke even with the Elliott deal.
And the move could not have come at a better time as the Cowboys are looking to make a Super Bowl run. In his three seasons in Dallas, Elliott has rushed for 4,048 yards and 28 touchdowns. He has led the NFL in rushing yards in 2016 and 2018 and he has led the NFL in rush yards per carry the last three years.
During the summer, Elliott discussed his NFL future with Maxim Magazine and said he wants to be a member of the Cowboys for as long as possible.
“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.”
Elliott will be a member of the Cowboys until he’s 31, and Jones did not lose any money by signing him. It’s safe to say that natural gas is the MVP of the Elliott deal.
