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With the NFL offseason dominated by contract chatter, Ezekiel Elliott and the Dallas Cowboys are alleged to be at loggerheads on the deal they're offering him. Reports suggest that the two parties are far apart in their valuation of the player's worth, with the franchise asking him to take a substantial paycut.
Based on his latest contract, Elliott has a cap hit of $16.72 million in the 2023 season. That's a huge amount for a team that's expected to be $7 million over the salary cap. The player has previously indicated that he wants to stay with the Cowboys and is willing to take a pay cut, but the extent of the pay cut seems to have now become a stumbling block.
The Dallas Cowboys are expected to franchise tag Tony Pollard as their running back, which means they will need Elliott to agree to their terms. The running back's representatives want to wait till the NFL Combine to figure out his market value. They will get a better idea at the time of what the market will be for a running back like him.
Ezekiel Elliott paying price for disappointing season with Dallas Cowboys
The reason things have come to this is because Ezekiel Elliott did not have a stellar 2022 season. As one of the faces of the franchise, he's getting paid the big bucks. However, his performances do not seem to indicate that.
He rushed for just 876 yards last season in 231 attempts, which equates to 3.8 yards per carry, and he had 12 rushing touchdowns.
He was outgunned by Tony Pollard, who had 1007 yards in just 193 carries. To give some perspective about how poor his output was, Raheem Mostert and Alvin Kamara had fewer carries than him for more yards. Mostert rused for 891 yards in 181 carries, while Kamara rushed for 897 yards in 223 carries.
The Cowboys also had a disappointing season in the playoffs. For a team that sees itself as America's team, they were outplayed in the divisional round against the 49ers. The loss put a lot of focus on their offense, as they scored only 12 points despite their defense limiting San Francisco to just 19.
Once Tony Pollard went off injured, their running threat was non-existent, as Elliott rushed for just 26 yards in ten attempts.
All that has now come to a head, and it points to an uncertain future for Ezekiel Elliott with the Cowboys.
