Ezekiel Elliott & NFL Have Discussed Potential Settlement?

Update:

Clarence Hill spoke to sources close to Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott and NFLPA who claim that they have no interest or knowledge of settlement talks and are instead fighting to clear his name, not just cut games.

Hill adds that if there are talks, they are likely between Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Roger Goodell.

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David Moore of the Dallas Morning News reports that the Ezekiel Elliott‘s legal team and the NFL have discussed a potential settlement regarding his six-game suspension.

A source tells Moore that there has been dialogue behind the scenes following each court ruling up to this point.

However, Moore says that “level of sincerity present in those previous discussions is open to debate.”

Elliott recently received a temporary restraining order while Judge Katherine Failla is on vacation, which will allow him to play at least one more game.

Moore says that a case can be made that both sides have inflicted enough harm on one another that they could be amenable to a settlement.

At this point, the NFL appears to have the upper hand in the case, given that it will move to New York where the NFL has had success in prior court cases, so they may actually prefer to see how things play out later this month than agree to a reduced suspension of two or three games.

Elliott was accused of five incidents of domestic violence that took place over over the course of a six-day period in July 2016, which led to the NFL suspended him six games.

Elliott, 22, was taken with the No. 4 overall pick by the Cowboys back in May. He signed four-year contract worth $24,956,342, which includes a signing bonus of $16,350,068.

Elliott stands to make base salaries of $1.58 million (2017), $2.71 million (2018), and $3.85 million (2019) over the remainder of the contract. The agreement also includes a fifth-year option for the team to consider in 2019.

In 2017, Elliott has appeared in five games and rushed for 393 yards on 105 carries (3.7 YPC) to go along with 17 receptions for 134 yards receiving and three total touchdowns.

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