Dallas Cowboys: With a great contract, comes great responsibility

The Dallas Cowboys have given Ezekiel Elliott a contract extension, making him the NFL’s highest paid running back. Can he prove he’s worth the risk?

Running back Ezekiel Elliott rejoined the Dallas Cowboys on the practice field Wednesday after ending his holdout for a new contract. Elliott comes back to practice to help the Cowboys get ready for their Week 1 matchup against the New York Giants after signing a contract making him the league’s highest paid running back.

The Dallas Cowboys realized they needed Elliott on the field to start their season, which led to an agreement of a six-year, $90 million contract extension.

Included in Elliott’s deal is $50 million guaranteed. With this deal, the Dallas Cowboys get their best player back on the field, but in the long run, will it be worth the risk?

If you simply look at this contract from a statistical standpoint, it makes perfect sense that Elliott received this massive amount of money. Since entering the league in 2016, Elliott has done nothing but dominate opposing defense’s. According to Field Yates, here’s the list of categories Elliott leads since entering the league:

When Elliott has been on the field, he’s obviously been the best running back in the NFL. From an on-field standpoint, the new deal looks great for both the Elliott and the Dallas Cowboys.

What about from an off-field standpoint?

It’s no secret Elliott has had problems off the field since becoming a member of the Dallas Cowboys. In his second NFL season, Elliott missed six games due to suspension because of his potential involvement in a domestic violence case.

Again this offseason, Elliott got himself into more trouble when he shoved a security guard during a Las Vegas outing. Luckily for Elliott, and the Dallas Cowboys, he will not face suspension for his off-field antics this time around. However, just because Elliott didn’t get punished for his less than smart decision this time, it doesn’t make it any less concerning that he puts himself in those situations.

With a great contract, comes great responsibility. Elliott wanted to be the NFL’s highest paid running back because of what he’s done on the field. Now that the Dallas Cowboys have given Elliott what he wanted, it’s time for him to repay them by actually staying on the field.

I get that Elliott is only 24 years old. He’s a young guy, and young guys make mistakes. Heck, old guys make mistakes. We all make mistakes. However, we don’t all make $90 million with $50 million guaranteed.

Now that Elliott got his big boy contract, it’s time for him to act like a big boy. It’s time for Elliott to step up and actually be a leader for the Dallas Cowboys, instead of just talking about it.

Now that we’ve seen Elliott get his money, we better not see him dealing with easily avoidable off the field issues that could make him miss games. I don’t want to see it, NFL fans don’t want to see it, Dak Prescott doesn’t want to see it, and I can guarantee you Jerry Jones most certainly doesn’t want to see it.

As the NFL’s best running back on the field, Elliott has been rewarded. Now it’s time for him to return the favor and reward the Dallas Cowboys with a player they can trust off the field.