Ezekiel Elliott Wants to Be with Cowboys for Life as He Seeks New Contract

Ezekiel Elliott may be mired in a contract dispute with the Dallas Cowboys and currently holding out, but that doesn't mean the superstar running back wants to be anywhere else.

As he told Keith Gordon of Maxim, he's hoping to be with the organization for his entire career:

"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. 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."

One important note is that Elliott's interview with the magazine took place in July:

The tenor of the conversation surrounding Elliott's holdout has changed a bit since that time, namely after team owner Jerry Jones jokingly dropped a "Zeke who?" line in response to a question during a press conference, a moment that the star running back found "disrespectful." It's possible Elliott might discuss his future in Dallas a bit differently now, though it's also possible that stance hasn't changed.

Elliott is under contract for the 2019 and 2020 seasons, and after that, the Cowboys could avoid giving him an extension by utilizing the franchise tag for another year or two. Elliott is seeking the security of a long-term deal in an era where the running back position has been devalued by NFL teams.

He said in July he believes the position's market value might be on the upswing, however:

"Until the very recent deal with Todd Gurley [four years, $60 million], I think there was an undervalue of the running back. But with guys like Gurley getting drafted so high, then me, and now guys like Saquon [Barkley] getting drafted in the first round, I think we've done a great job of bringing back the value of the position, showing the importance of the running back."

Elliott isn't the only running back in recent memory to hold out for bigger money as players at the position fight back against their devaluation on the market. Los Angeles Chargers running back Melvin Gordon is also holding out this summer, while New York Jets halfback Le'Veon Bell sat out the entire 2018 season while with the Pittsburgh Steelers. 

It isn't hard to see why players like Elliott, Gordon and Bell want a bigger piece of the pie. Elliott, for instance, posted 2,001 yards from scrimmage last season and nine total touchdowns. He accounted for 36 percent of Dallas' total yards in that campaign and 15 percent of the team's scoring.

Despite those gaudy numbers, his $3.8 million salary for the 2019 season is just two percent of the team's total spending ($192.5 million). Part of that is because Elliott is on a rookie deal, an inevitability due to the current collective bargaining agreement. But it's fair for players like Elliott to want to be compensated in a major way on their next deal given just how much value they provide, especially as NFL teams generally don't ride with running backs once they hit their 30s. 

For players like Elliott, getting that guaranteed payday, even two years before his current deal is up, is a chance at long-term financial security. The Cowboys have gotten Elliott at an absolute bargain to this point in his career—his goal, and the goal of players like him, is to guarantee he gets his fair share later in his career.