The Ezekiel Elliott era in Dallas may be coming to an end in the coming days.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, via ML Football, there are many people around the NFL who think the two-time rushing champion is a “prime cut candidate”.
Cutting Elliott would save the Cowboys $4.86 million in cap space. The team’s leading rusher of 2022, Tony Pollard, is eligible to enter free agency later this month. It’s going to be hard for the Cowboys to carry two high-salaried running backs at a devaluing position, so cutting Elliott makes sense from a business standpoint.
Though Elliott had more carries than Pollard in 2022 (231 vs. 193), the latter finished with a team-leading 1,007 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns. Elliott finished with 876 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns.
Ahead of the 2019 season, the Cowboys handed Elliott a lucrative six-year contract extension worth $90 million. Elliott was coming off his second rushing title crown in three years, so the deal made more sense at the time.
But Elliott’s production has declined noticeably over the last three seasons. If it weren’t for the expanded 17-game regular season schedule in 2021, Elliott wouldn’t have hit the 1,000-yard mark (he finished with 1,002).
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Pollard is two years younger, has far less mileage on his body and has been more explosive over the last two years. If Jerry Jones can only choose one, you have to think he’d pick Pollard over Elliott.
