Ezekiel Elliott found Jerry Jones' 'Zeke who?' joke 'disrespectful'
With Cowboys rookie RB Tony Pollard playing well in the preseason, Ezekiel Elliott hasn’t gained any more leverage in his contract negotiations with the team. Maybe that will change when the games start to matter, but, for now, it appears that owner Jerry Jones is content to start the year without his star running back. Jones even joked about Zeke’s absence following the Cowboys second exhibition game, in which Pollard ran for 42 yards on just five carries.
“Who? Now Zeke who?” Jones quipped after the game.
The long-time Cowboys owner later said that he sees Pollard as a compliment and not a replacement for Elliott, but that part of the press conference didn’t seem to get back to the running back.
I mean, sure. It makes sense that Elliott would feel slighted, but this seems like a bit of an overreaction to a harmless joke.
Jones has repeatedly stood up for him after his numerous off-field transgressions and even went to war with the NFL over his suspension. Cowboys VP Stephen Jones, Jerry’s son, has already said that he expects Elliott to get a contract similar to the one Todd Gurley received from the Rams, which broke an NFL record. The Cowboys front office has seemingly approached these negotiations with the utmost respect. If anything, they’ve shown Elliott too much respect this offseason.
Elliott likely won’t be worth the money he’s seeking. Running backs don’t really move the needle in the run game — run-blocking and play-calling have a far greater impact on the success of a given run play. And the run game just doesn’t move the needle in the grand scheme of things. Running backs don’t really matter. Elliott is a fantastic player, but he’s stuck at a position that has little impact on wins and losses, and his contributions to the Cowboys passing game have been grossly overstated. That’s just the reality of the situation.
Jones was merely joking when he said “Zeke who?” but that’s the approach the Cowboys should actually be taking with these contract talks.