Dallas Cowboys: You’ve Been Warned

In the doldrums of summer the conversation around the Dallas Cowboys and the NFL turns crazy. Such is the topic of trading Zeke and his contract, we can’t say we weren’t warned.

Flip the calendar back two months ago and I wrote an article about the Dallas Cowboys possibly toying with Ezekiel Elliott (here). The premise was that I thought the Cowboys should re-sign Elliott, but there was more than enough evidence that they may not.

Simply put the NFL doesn’t value running backs like they used to, and as such, teams seem to be willing to let them walk or trade them.

About a week ago Jeff Cavanaugh set the Twitter world on fire with one simple tweet:

And like that, the conversation took off, even pulling in David Helman into the fray:

For almost a week the conversation was about how bad of a take this was. There were some out there who agreed, but the majority of responses were about how ridiculous Jeff and David were. They certainly had their reasons, and really solid ones, but no one wanted to hear them. Fans were warned a second time.

Then today rolled around (July 15) and Patrik Walker dropped yet another bomb onto the conversation. While a holdout seems far fetched (thanks Mike Florio), it is just another piece to the puzzle.

Ultimately, the Cowboys are at a crossroads with Elliott. Regardless of what you feel about his off-field stuff (or lack thereof), the Cowboys have to make a decision on whether they will re-sign Zeke, trade him, or let him walk.

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I still believe they will sign a deal and get something done, but the warnings are there. The talk from Jason Garrett after the draft about Mike Weber, the conversations about how the NFL doesn’t value running backs like they used to, even small whispers of Zeke wanting to make sure communications for a new contract are progressing. All of it could mean anything at this point, but if something surprising happens, don’t say you weren’t warned.

There is some truth to the notion that NFL teams don’t value the running back position as much as they used to. Look at Le’veon Bell and Melvin Gordon, heck look at the Rams and Todd Gurley. Running backs just don’t seem to be the trend at the moment. Elite ones are still a rarity and I believe still hold enormous value, even if they do have somewhat shorter shelf-lives.

Not many people who have weighed in either believe the Cowboys will or ultimately should trade Zeke, but the notion is certainly out there. It really shouldn’t be a surprise if it does actually happen.

We have had the conversations, we will have more, but at the end of the day, the Dallas Cowboys have to be the ones to decide, and for that, we wait. However, we have been warned.

• Published on 07/16/2019 at 12:50 PM
• Last updated at 07/16/2019 at 12:50 PM