Cowboys

Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott Planning To Hold Out Of Training Camp?

July 15, 2019

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, citing a league source, reports that Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott has said privately that he will hold out of the team’s training camp unless there’s a new contract in place.

According to Yahoo!’s Charles Robinson, Elliott hasn’t made a final decision on a potential training camp holdout, but is weighing his options.
Robinson says Elliott knows his value is at its high point and wants to protect himself long-term, especially since he’s projected to take on a significant workload in 2019.
Robinson adds this isn’t a surprise to the Cowboys and EVP Stephen Jones, who’s been running negotiations, as the two have stayed in contact for more than a month.
Robinson believes if Elliott feels good about the progression of extension talks with the Cowboys, he won’t hold out from camp.
One other point to consider regarding Elliott, Robinson notes that he will need to report to the team by August 6 to get an accrued season towards unrestricted free agency.

While Dallas has said that Elliott is an important part of their team, they’ve reportedly been focused on other extension candidates including QB Dak Prescott and WR Amari Cooper.

Chargers RB Melvin Gordon has already announced that he plans to hold out for a new contract, so it would not be all that surprising if Elliott wasn’t with the team during training camp and the preseason.

Elliott is in a tough position seeing as the Cowboys have him under team control for another two seasons. After that, the Cowboys could franchise him for the 2021 season.

Elliott, 23, was taken with the No. 4 overall pick by the Cowboys back in 2016. He signed four-year contract worth $24,956,342, which includes a signing bonus of $16,350,068.

Elliott will make a base salary of $3.85 million for the 2019 season and another $9.1 million in 2020 under the fifth-year option of his contract.

In 2018, Elliott appeared in 15 games for the Cowboys and rushed for 1,434 yards on 304 carries (4.7 YPC) to go along with 77 receptions for 567 yards receiving and nine touchdowns.