The holdout of Ezekiel Elliott continues, and the ball reportedly is in Elliott’s court.
Jane Slater of the NFL reports that Elliott’s camp has yet to respond to the offer made by the team.
On Friday, Cowboys COO Stephen Jones told reporters that the offers made to Elliott, to quarterback Dak Prescott, and to receiver Amari Cooper are each “solid.”
Of course, solid is the eye of the offerer. What’s solid to the Cowboys may be soft to Elliott, Prescott, and/or Cooper.
It’s unclear whether other offers have been exchanged by the two sides. In plenty of cases, the first offer made by each side helps to set the parameters, and to identify the ballpark of the respective bottom-line positions.
That said, the team’s offer always has a more tangible quality than the player’s demand. The team’s offer represents money on the table, sitting there and smiling at the player with the reality that, if it goes away, it may never return.
What Elliott wants is one thing. What the Cowboys will put on the table, and whether Elliott will say no to it, is all that eventually matters. That said, the delay works to Elliott’s advantage, because urgency can get the Cowboys to throw more dollars onto the table just to get the damn thing done.