Dallas Cowboys: Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper should be priority, not Ezekiel Elliott
The Dallas Cowboys have three star players they’re trying to keep under contract for the long haul. Will they be able to keep them all?
In a perfect world, the Dallas Cowboys want to keep all three of their star players who are coming up for extensions; Dak Prescott, Amari Cooper and Ezekiel Elliott. But will they be able to afford it? They sit with approximately $23.8 million in cap space this year and have about $74.6 million going into next year, according to overthecap.com.
The Cowboys have a lot of players still on rookie contracts and they are going to take up a lot of cap space over the next couple of years when they come up for new deals. Simply put, the organization needs to be smart on how they go about re-signing them all. Timing is key for some of there deals to get done and one of the reasons I’d wait on Ezekiel Elliott.
Elliott is one of the best running back in the league, with some arguing he is the best. He has two years left on his deal though and he’s already holding out for a new deal. The Dallas Cowboys could handle this a couple of different ways. However, the smart option would be to sign Prescott and Cooper to long deals first, as their contracts are up at the end of this season.
Now you still need to settle the Elliott debacle or it could turn ugly. He could realistically sit out all year like Le’Veon Bell did last year. The Cowboys could look to bump up his salary over the last two seasons of his deal before committing to a longer deal.
He’s set to make $7.9 million in 2019 and $9.1 million in 2020, so you could look to give him $10 million this year and $12 million the following year to make him happy for the short term. This would give him an increase of approximately $3 million annually, each of those two seasons and can franchise tag him the following year if a deal can’t get done before then.
This can hopefully settle Elliott’s contract dispute until a new deal can be worked on next offseason and if not, you need to look at the possibility of trading him. It may not be the most favorable situation, but the Dallas Cowboys don’t want that locker room distraction if he does decide to sit out all year.
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Just look at Pittsburgh last year with the Bell and the Antonio Brown sagas. It had an impact on team chemistry and it showed on the field. Mike Tomlin was starting to lose the locker room late last year and now both players are gone. They didn’t get enough in return for Brown and Bell walked in free agency. To top it all off, the Steelers failed to make the playoffs last season. Dallas doesn’t want to follow in their footsteps.
I believe the NFL is a running back by committee league and you need a few solid running backs to compete in the playoffs. Elliott is great, but the position he plays is always going to limit his value. Teams that have won Super Bowls recently don’t necessarily have an elite running back. They typically have a few strong backs they can rotate through.
New England split carries last year between Sony Michel and James White, and Philadelphia split carries in 2017 between LeGarrette Blount and Jay Ajayi and both teams won Super Bowls. Both New England and Philadelphia had great quarterback play with a balanced offense and relied on their defenses.
This states the case even further that the Cowboys shouldn’t worry too much on extending Elliott this year. On top of that, Elliott’s trade value is probably higher now than it will be at any point going forward. The Dallas Cowboys would undoubtedly get a nice return if they decide to trade their star running back.
Locking up both Prescott and Cooper should be the priority for Dallas. Prescott performed a lot better once Cooper was brought in last season. If Prescott’s improvement after getting Cooper is for real, the Cowboys’ offense is going to be for real.
In today’s NFL, you want to build your team around a few pieces. The quarterback is the top priority, then you must have a solid offensive line to protect him with a quality receiver and tight end. Dallas has the makings of this and needs to keep that in place for future success.
Cooper has found a home in Dallas and clicks with Prescott well. It’s vital for the Dallas Cowboys to sign as many of their rookies and veterans as possible while the window is open for them to make a Super Bowl run within the next 2-3 years. This is why you need to lock up your franchise quarterback and speedy number one receiver now.
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If the Dallas Cowboys let Prescott and/or Cooper go and pay Elliott, it can set this team back from winning their division the next couple of years and possibly competing for a Super Bowl. They would have to start over looking for a new quarterback or number one receiver and it’s always easier to find running backs either in the draft or free agency next year.