Cowboys' Ezekiel Elliott contract details emerge, team must avoid crucial mistake

The Dallas Cowboys are reuniting with running back Ezekiel Elliott after not picking an heir to Tony Pollard during the 2024 NFL Draft. 

The news, which were being teased since last week when Zeke met with the Cowboys to "just talk," shouldn't be a surprise for fans that had been paying attention. The team's running back room has little depth and experience and Elliott immediately changes that with 120 pro games under his belt.

The reunion has sparked controversy among Cowboys fans as many believe it's a good move while others were hoping for a more refreshing approach. Ultimately, it should be noted that Zeke's deal is a low-risk one at this stage of his career as he's signing a relatively inexpensive contract.

Contract Details for Ezekiel Elliott

Elliott's deal will be a one-year contract worth $3 million, per Clarence Hill of the Star-Telegram. Per the report, only $2 million is guaranteed. Assuming there's no void years or anything like that on Zeke's deal, it's highly likely his cap number will be a vanilla $3M. 

That being said, the Cowboys were already on the hook for a $6 million cap hit for Zeke in 2024 after they released him with a post-June 1st designation last year to spread out his cap hit over two years (this being the second). 

As you can see, it's a very manageable contract for the Cowboys, which makes it hard to hate on the news as there's little risk involved. Ultimately, as Cowboys fans learned last year, the running game's success is likelier to be determined by the offensive linemen up front rather than by the men carrying the footballs. With that being said, there's one thing the Cowboys need to decide for this signing to be truly successful. 

Ezekiel Elliott can't be the RB1

Once, he was the one and only man that mattered in the Cowboys' running back rotation. And it paid off. In each of his first three seasons in the league, he led the NFL in average yards per game, picking up All-Pro honors in 2016 and 2018, his first two full seasons played.

A year later, he went for over 1,357 rushing yards. From 2016-2019 he averaged 351 rush attempts per year. It was elite, old-school production. His yards per attempt hit a career low at 3.5 in New England last year, his second season averaging under 4 yards per carry since joining the NFL in 2016.

However, things have changed. Elliott, who's got more career carries than any other active running back in today's NFL (2,065), isn't his explosive self anymore. 

Per Sports Info Solutions, Elliott had an explosive rush in 1% of his attempts (measured by EPA). That ranked dead last among running backs with over 100 carries. Pollard had a 7.1% rate and there were 15 other backs that ranked higher than him, including Christian McCaffrey (9.9%). 

Rico Dowdle, who will likely be Elliott's biggest challenger for the top job in Dallas, was better in such a stat at 5.6% as well (89 carries).

Given all of this, the Cowboys will be better off deciding to approach the running back position with a committee mindset over having a single workhorse leading the charge. That would be a huge mistake, especially if Zeke is the workhorse they bet on.

Additionally, it'll be better to have someone with explosive upside be the RB1 of such committee, with Dowdle having the edge over Zeke. 

"The dynamics of the running back room right now, it's a young group but they all have upside," head coach Mike McCarthy told reporters post-draft, before the Elliott signing news came through the wire. 

McCarthy also reminded the NFL world that when he took over the offense, the biggest changes to take place offensively happened in the world of pass protection, where he consistently claimed he demanded much more from running backs than former offensive coordinator Kellen Moore had on his version of the offense.

"As I said last year, we put a lot more responsibility on our running backs with the new protection scheme that we added and all those guys took a big jump," McCarthy added.

If someone like Deuce Vaughn or even Malik Davis takes an even larger leap in the 2024 offseason, Elliott might find himself in an interesting battle on the Cowboys' depth chart. Buckle up, Cowboys Nation, it's going to be a fun group of backs.