When the Cowboys’ plane took off for training camp on Thursday, there was one key passenger missing from the flight manifest: Ezekiel Elliott.
According to NFL.com, Elliott was a no-show for the flight, which is notable for one big reason: Cowboys coach Jason Garrett had said this week that he expected Elliott to be on the flight, which was taking the team from Dallas to Oxnard, California, where the Cowboys annually hold their training camp.
Of course, just because Elliott missed the flight doesn’t necessarily mean he has any plans to hold out of camp. Players don’t have to report until Friday morning, which means Elliott could make his way to camp on his own, something that other players have done in the past.
On the other hand, rumors have been floating around all summer that Elliott might hold out because he wants a new contract. If Zeke doesn’t show up to camp by Friday morning, then you can bet that “Zeke holdout watch 2019” will officially kick into overdrive.
There’s been a lot of chatter over the past week about Elliott and his plans to hold out. Pro Football Talk reported over the weekend that Elliott was “making plans” to leave the country instead of attending training camp if a new deal didn’t get negotiated. Although Zeke was putting plans in place for some foreign travel over the weekend, it seems he’s still unsure about whether or not he wants to hold out. As recently as Monday, Elliott was apparently still undecided about skipping training camp.
The Cowboys running back still has two years left on a rookie contract that’s scheduled to pay him $3.9 million in 2019 and $9.1 million in 2020. Elliott clearly feels he’s underpaid, and it’s hard to argue with him, considering he’s led the NFL in rushing in two of the past three seasons.
The problem for Elliott is that he doesn’t really have any leverage from a negotiation standpoint. The Cowboys own his rights for two more seasons, and if you include the franchise tag, they could conceivably retain his rights for the next four years without ever offering him a new deal.
If the Cowboys were to let him play out his deal, then tag him in both 2021 and 2022, that would only cost them roughly $40 million for those four years ($10 million per year). Although it’s not clear what Zeke’s asking price is, you can bet it’s more than that, especially with multiple guys – namely Todd Gurley, Le’Veon Bell and David Johnson – all making more than an average of $13 million per year.
If Elliott doesn’t show up for training camp, this could turn into an ugly summer for the Cowboys and that’s because they have multiple other extensions to figure out. Not is Elliott looking for a new deal, but the team also needs to get deals done with both Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper.
