The Dallas Cowboys decided to cut Ezekiel Elliott on March 15th, 2023, in order to preserve cap space. It’s been reported that the move was a mutual agreement. He will be officially released on June 1st, saving the Cowboys $11 million. You can read Jerry Jones’ statement here.
2016 Draft & Initial Reactions
The Dallas Cowboys limped to the finish line in 2015, with injuries to star offensive players. Most notably, they were without star wideout Dez Bryant and of course, the oft-injured (at this point in his career) Tony Romo. They started 2-0, but after those injuries went 2-12 the remainder of the season. One of those wins could be attributed to Tony Romo, who bravely (or stupidly, in hindsight especially) came back before being fully healed from his collarbone injury. The next game following that win, he reaggravated that injury. That season, the Cowboys did have a 1000-yard rusher, but Darren McFadden was seemingly already on borrowed time, spending a lot of time on the IR throughout his career in his own right. In fact, this would be the last season he saw more than 50 snaps. He retired in 2017.
When Ezekiel Elliott was taken with the 4th pick of the 2016 NFL Draft, I was among those left scratching their head. While he was an awesome college running back, those players rarely translate at the next level, and were typically drafted later on.
To compound this, a player who seemed like a sure thing (and to be fair, has panned out as such) was left on the board. At a position of need, maybe not, but he projected to be a truly great player at the DB position, and those guys don’t come around often. Jalen Ramsey was taken 5th in the 2016 draft, see some reaction here:
Both sides of the ball had room for improvement, but the defense was certainly the stronger side. Brandon Carr and Morris Claiborne were both solid players, and the cowboys had the 5th best pass defense in the league.
In the end, if you believe the reporting that comes out of Dallas, Zeke was the choice of Jerry Jones. Jerry has the final say on all things cowboys, so it would seem. They like to claim that his son, Stephen Jones has a lot to do with personnel decisions these days, but most close to the situation believe Jerry still gets the ultimate decision-making power.
The Triplets 2.0: Some Things Just Work Once
The Dallas Cowboys in the 90s featured one of the most dynamic offensive attacks in the sport at the time. They featured future Hall-of-Famers Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, and Emmitt Smith. That Trio went to the playoffs for 6 consecutive years and won the Super Bowl in 3 of them. They were known as the triplets, the three all-pro players at the premier positions in the sport. Not only were they successful, they were fun to watch. Emmitt Smith is considered by many to be a top-five running back of all time. Michael Irvin, nicknamed “The Playmaker”, was known for making catches no matter what kind of punishment was coming after. He frequently caught balls over the middle of the field, a place often called “no-mans-land” in the passing game because there was usually a deep linebacker or safety waiting to crack your ribs while you lift your arms to catch the ball. Those hits on a defenseless receiver are now illegal. Troy Aikman was pretty good, but never the main reason for their success. It was the three-headed-monster, the triplets that led to their success.
Jerry Jones was fundamentally involved in bringing this trio together. And many people believed that this fading memory was the reason for the Cowboys’ decision to take Ezekiel Elliott in the 2016 draft. Dez Bryant would come back from injury and be able to play for the Cowboys in the upcoming fall. Tony Romo was frequently lampooned, but also represented the actual best QB in the storied history of the team. We’ll save that debate for another time. Ezekiel Elliott would be the final piece in replicating the machine that won Jerry Jones three titles. The Cowboys also took star Mississippi State Quarterback Dak Prescott as an insurance policy on Tony Romo. Their backups the previous season did not do anything to establish trust that they could carry the water should Romo go down again.
The other reason for taking Elliott is that he offered something Jalen Ramsey wouldn’t. A worthy distraction for defenses away from Tony Romo. Romo had become plagued with injury woes in the past few years, and there is little that can spell an aging QB like a solid running game. It’s one of the things that this year led to Tom Brady’s poor play. As QBs age, they become less mobile, and defenses recognize that. They relish the opportunity to blitz those QBs, especially with stunt blitzes, which can confuse the lineman and lead to QBs getting hit from angles they wouldn’t expect and don’t brace for. Over time, this increases the chances of injury. One of the best way to get teams to avoid blitzing is with a potent rushing attack. On top of his high-end rushing abilities, Zeke had one of the most valuable and rarest traits for a running back. He LOVED to pass block. He’d engage the extra blitzing LB, or be the last bastion of defense if one of the defensive rushers got through the offensive line. Here’s a clip from the 2022 playoffs:
Looking back now, it feels as through a Super Bowl was a possibility with that team after they drafted Zeke. I still personally believe that they would have been able to win one if they hadn’t given the reins to Dak as early as they did. Dak is surely a capable signal caller, but at only 36, Romo was now being run out of the league. He certainly wasn’t a sure thing either, but he wasn’t exactly washed yet. I n his last full season, Romo led the NFL in completion percentage, passer rating, yards per attempt, and QBR. Dak’s rise through the ranks ultimately led to Tony being sunset as the Cowboys starting quarterback, and the rest is history. But let’s talk about what the Cowboys DID accomplish.
High Highs
Zeke proved to be an elite back right away. I still remember the highlights from preseason games, one in particular where he spun off a Kam Chancellor hit like it was nothing and kept forward. He was doing everything he did in college, playing against NFL veterans. In his rookie year, he rushed for more yards than any other back in the league. The Cowboys had a phenomenal offensive line that helped create space for him, but he also created plenty of yards after contact. The stats don’t go back to 2016 on pro-football-reference.com, but from 2018-2020, he averaged at least 2 YAC per carry, meaning every time you handed him the ball, you could pretty much count on him to fall forward after being hit for at least another two yards. in 2018, he led the league in rushing again, and chipped in 77 passes caught as well. He was an absolutely vital part of the offense, and actually led the team in Added Value in 2018, per PFR.com.
Dak and Zeke’s relationship was visibly great. Their budding bromance only enhanced by the fact that their two numbers together made up a Dallas area code, 214.
Watching the two of them play together was a great deal of fun. Zeke never failed to generate 50 or more first downs as a runner for the Cowboys. He topped 70 in 2016, 2018, and 2019. He had 30 runs of 20+ yards in his first three seasons. He led the league in his rookie year. He contributed to Dak Prescott’s offensive rookie of the year in innumerous ways.
(I’d embed a video of highlights here, but the NFL is notoriously tight with their content. Link here.)
When I look back, it’s hard to say I regret the decision to take Zeke at 4th overall in that draft. He’s been a valuable contributor to the team, and the only real reason to disagree is the contract that Jerry gave him after his rookie deal expired. However, I don’t even have a problem with that. Running backs offer diminishing returns, and this is not news to big football fans. Lasting a long time as a running back in the NFL is damn near impossible. Even all-timers like Derrick Henry and LeSean McCoy are/were being shopped as trade bait at 27. I am personally in favor of athletes being paid for their relative contribution, and unfortunately the only way to do this for running backs is to give them a second contract that will all but certainly look bad in hindsight. But I think paying people what they deserve is good, even if it’s a day late and dollar short, the attempt matters to me, and I’m glad the Cowboys enriched Zeke for a while. It’s not like they’re gonna give me the extra money.
Moderate Lows
The primary problem with Zeke is difficult for me to talk about. In July of 2016, Elliott was accused of domestic violence by his girlfriend at the time, in Columbus, Ohio, where he went to Ohio State University. This is difficult for two reasons: first, the charges were ultimately dropped, and Elliott never faced legal consequences for those accusations. Second, I typically believe women in these circumstances, and while the story never quite lined up for me personally, I have a hard time believing that it was entirely untrue. Ultimately, the NFL decided to suspend Elliott for the first 6 games of the 2017 season, more than a year after the initial charges. Many believe that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell decided to enforce the suspension in a move to slight Jerry Jones, who does have a habit of overstepping his bounds.
There are plenty of players who have had struggles with the law, and while I’m skeptical any time a black man is arrested for pretty much anything, I also have a hard line for violent behavior. Jerry Jones has no such qualms, having hired players like Greg Hardy, who infamously threw his girlfriend at the time onto a bed littered with assault weapons. Jerry decided to sign him as a free agent after that incident. I wonder why Roger would want to set the record straight?
The only reason I was willing to support a player like Elliott after this occurred is because there were some confounding points in the evidence, including text messages from the girlfriend asking her friend to lie about the injuries. Additionally, the NFL’s lead investigator was ultimately unable to cite the girlfriend as a credible witness in the inquiry.
I don’t intend to rehash the situation or drag the woman’s name through the mud. You can look into the circumstances yourself if you so choose.
The other bizarre factor in Elliott’s career was brought about by his contraction of the COVID-19 virus, and it’s seemingly long lingering effects on his body after that. He never appeared the same runner since, and while he claimed at the time to have been fine after resting for about a month, the stats bear out that he was not the same runner in the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Age certainly plays a role, as does the dissolution of the once-great Cowboys offensive line, but we’ve learned that there are long-term effects of this virus that we don’t quite understand, even today. It’s not too hard for me to believe that this played a part in his decline.
In Summation
Through the peaks and valleys, I enjoyed watching Zeke play. I don’t think that Dak would be the quarterback he is today if not for his stellar play and companionship, and I certainly don’t think the Cowboys would have been annual playoff threats without him.
I’m glad that Zeke got paid, even if it ultimately cost us Amari Cooper. I’m in favor of these guys who are the heart and soul of a team getting properly imbursed for it, even if it comes after the time when they’re most valuable. I do hope that the NFL will figure a way for those athletes who play RB to make more money sooner, but in absentia, gaudy, stupid contracts are the best we can do.
The Cowboys still haven’t won a Super Bowl in my lifetime, and maybe they never will. Football as we know it may be a thing of the past before they ever build a team that can win the whole thing again. But it was fun to watch Ezekiel Elliott lined up next to Dak Prescott, and I can only hope the same will hold true when Tony Pollard steps into the full-time role.
Anti-Standom
(Noun) Resistance to becoming overwhelmingly enamored or obsessed with a person or thing.
Anti-Standom 