Tuesday brought word that Ezekiel Elliott and the Cowboys were close to finalizing a six-year, $90 million contract extension and Wednesday morning brought reports that the deal was done.
In what the Cowboys called “the post you’ve all been waiting for” on the Twitter account, the team has now officially announced that they’ve come to an agreement with their star running back. Elliott is expected at the team’s facility to take a physical and practice with designs on playing against the Giants in Week One.
The full details of the deal are pending, but multiple reports have the total guaranteed money at $50 million. That’s the most of any running back in the NFL and the average annual salary of the extension also puts Elliott in the top spot. Elliott is tied to the Cowboys for eight years overall as he’s under contract for 2019 and the Cowboys already exercised their option on his contract for 2020.
That happened despite the Cowboys saying they weren’t going to reset the running back market with an Elliott deal, but it became clear some time ago that nothing less than the top spot was going to get Elliott into a uniform to start the season. Now we’ll see if they’re also able to get deals done with quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver Amari Cooper after a long offseason of contract talk concerning three of their offensive stars.