Dallas Cowboys: Why Ezekiel Elliott is invaluable

The Dallas Cowboys had no choice but to sign Ezekiel Elliott to a $90 million dollar contract extension because Zeke is a one of a kind talent.

After Dallas Cowboys Chief Operating Officer/Executive Vice President/Director of Player Personnel Stephen Jones made a bold statement about Cowboys Pro Bowl running back Ezekiel Elliott contract demands, I thought Stephen was trying to play hard ball and be cheap.

I’m going to paraphase Jones’ statement: we’re not in the business of setting the market for a particular player. Stephen made that notorious statement a few weeks ago, and from there it was a cat and mouse game between Stephen, Jerry Jones, and Team Zeke.

Team Zeke stood firm in their contract demands, wanting Zeke to be the highest paid running back in the league. Zeke was not taking anything even slightly more than running Le’veon Bell (Bell’s deal with the New York Jets is worth $52.5 million over fours and can make $61 million with incentives) and nothing less than Todd Gurley of the Los Angeles Rams ($57 million, with $45 million guaranteed). Gurley also had two years remaining on his contract.

After all of the back and forth histrionics between the Jones’s and Team Zeke, the best running back in the NFL signed a six-year $90 million dollar contract extension-temporarily making Zeke the highest-paid running back in league history.

And with that being said, Dallas had to pay Zeke $90 million dollars because Zeke is an invaluable asset to this team. Instead of Dallas building the offense around quarterback Dak Prescott, they opted to build the offense around their super hero like running back.

But since Zeke is the cornerstone of the offense and uber-gifted, Jerry and Stephen had no choice to but to make Zeke the highest paid player in franchise history. The offense leans on him, goes through him, and depends on him to no end.

On offense, Zeke is durable because he can carry the ball 25 or more times a game, a receiving threat out of the backfield to take any pass to pay dirt, can pick up the blitz with ease, and he forces opposing defenses to put eight men in the box. And Because defenses have to stack the box, it allows Dallas’ wide receivers to play in man coverage and win those battles.

With that advantage, opposing defensive coordinators have to pick their poison: Do they put an extra man in the box to stop Zeke? Or do they play in nickel or dime coverage?

Best believe if its the latter then Zeke is going to rush for 175 yards and a few touchdowns-easily done with that All-Pro offensive line leading the way.

Further, Zeke’s presence allows for the play-action pass to boast the passing game-making the offense perform at a premium level. Imagine how relieved newly offensive coordinator Kellen Moore is that Zeke is back on the team.

With Zeke being the bell cow, his production allows Dallas to eat up clock and take advantage of the game with a lead. Plus, Zeke’s running style wears down opposing defenses late in the fourth quarter- especially late in December and in cold weathered games.

Even Dallas’ top-five defense benefits from Zeke’s services. For instance, with Dallas’ offense dominating TOP (Time of Possession), the defense is well rested and is able to play four strong quarters of football with fresh legs.

Dallas’ defense already is a good unit, but the added rest will only make them that much better. That’s amazing that a running back can benefit an entire team in so many ways. I wrote an article explaining Dallas’ dependence on Zeke and how they built a team around him.