Ezekiel Elliott Contract Details With Cowboys and How They Impact Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper
By Michael Luciano
The constant refrain from the Dallas Cowboys regarding the delay in signing Ezekiel Elliott to a record-breaking contract was all of the uncertainty surrounding how they could afford to pay him, quarterback Dak Prescott, and top wide receiver Amari Cooper.
Yet, the Cowboys finally decided to give in to Elliott, signing him to a deal that makes him the highest paid running back in the league.
Ezekiel Elliott Contract Details
The first two years of the deal, one of which will see Zeke getting paid only $753,137 dollars and the other of which includes a $13 million option bonus, are fully guaranteed. When the new league years start in 2020 and 2021, his salaries of $9.6 million in 2021 and $12.4 million in 2022 will become fully guaranteed for those years.
There is a remote possibility that the Cowboys, who entered this offseason with the fourth most cap room, can afford to keep Prescott, Cooper and defensive back Byron Jones. According to Ed Werder, the team is intent on getting a deal done with Prescott, while not much is happening with Cooper.
The Cowboys currently have $14 million in cap space this season, meaning that if Jones, Prescott, or Cooper were to agree to a deal, they would either need to find a way to jettison some bad contracts or backload the deal like they did with Elliott.
While it's possible that all three stay, the cap logistics as well as a looming extension several years down the road for young linebacker Leighton Vander Esch will make keeping all of them very difficult.