Latest On Cowboys, Ezekiel Elliott

After a strong preseason performance from fourth-round RB Tony Pollard, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones joked “Zeke who?” referencing RB Ezekiel Elliott‘s ongoing holdout and contract dispute with the team. 

The comment reportedly didn’t sit well with Elliott. 

“I didn’t think it was funny and neither did Zeke,” Elliott’s agent Rocky Arceneaux said via ESPN’s Chris Mortensen. “We actually thought it was disrespectful.”

Mortensen says Elliott is still training in Mexico and there’s no “real progress” on negotiations between him and the Cowboys.  The two sides are reportedly still not close to an agreement. 

Jones spoke highly of Pollard, but stressed that they aren’t looking at him as an Elliott replacement and instead view him as a “compliment.”

“He knows exactly what to do, and he knows how to do it, so it is, he goes out there and he plays to that level,” Jones said. “If he continues this through the next several weeks, he’s going to be right in the middle of it early, and that will really complement what we’re doing with Zeke. Not replace that. And I mean that, not replace that. Nobody’s getting cute here, but it’ll certainly be a great complement … I can picture those guys same sets at the same times out there and really giving those defenses fits.”

Elliott reportedly is angling to surpass Rams RB Todd Gurley as the NFL’s highest-paid running back. Gurley signed a four-year $57.5 million deal last August. 

Elliott, 24, 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.

We’ll have more regarding Elliott as the news is available.