As we sit a month away from Dallas Cowboys Training Camp and 70 days until the start of the NFL regular season, I admit I'm in the same boat as some fans who want to see some football action or even moves made by the franchise.
Writing about the team can be challenging when the well is dry around team news, but as I sipped on my homemade iced coffee on this lovely Sunday before the Fourth of July, one Cowboys-related article caught my eye.
In a Bleacher Report article written over the weekend, Brent Sobleski listed one player each NFL team should consider trading before the 2022 season. For the Dallas Cowboys, he selected Running Back Ezekiel Elliott.
Sobleski's reasoning was:
By trading him now, the Cowboys can save $12.4 million toward this year's salary cap, which can be rolled over to 2023. Unsurprisingly, the Cowboys are in the red going into next offseason.
The offense is now built around quarterback Dak Prescott, and backup running back Tony Pollard is more than capable of taking on an expanded role.
Dallas might not be as good in the running game without Elliott, but their previous approach hasn't gotten them the success they've desired. An Elliott trade would create far more flexibility for the franchise to operate.
While I agree with Sobleski in saving the Cowboys a big chunk of change and giving Pollard an expanded role, moving on from Elliott in this current offseason wouldn't make the team better, nor will you net high trade compensation.
In the new era of teams that are becoming reluctant to pay running backs (after seeing the decline and breakdown of RBs after they get their payday), it would make sense to say, “Ok, let's move on from Elliott and give Pollard the reins.”
But if you roll out with Pollard as the starter, are you confident relying on RBs Rico Dowdle and JaQuan Hardy as your backups?
Yes, there may be free agent RBs like David Johnson (who's a shell of himself, 30 years old–which is also four years older than Elliott) or a Devonta Freeman (who had a nice, little run with the Ravens in eight games, but is also 30) that you could add–but do they really help you?
Last year, Elliott finished the season with 1,002 yards and 10 TDs, with an average of 4.2 YPC. Additionally, his longest run was in Week 4 of 47 yards–coincidentally, when he was on pace for another productive season before he began to decline after Week 8.
While some fans point out: “Well, he didn't show up in the playoffs!” or “They should have taken him out and used Pollard more because Elliott was a bum!”
I agree on both points.
But we didn't find out till later that Elliott was playing injured for most of the season and during their Wild-Card loss.
If he still felt he could contribute and ride for his team, then so be it. That's a guy you would want on your team, right?
Someone willing to put their body through hell to win for his team, and although they didn't pull it out a victory–How does possibly moving on from him make the team better?
Shifting back to the money aspect that Sobleski mentioned, if the franchise wanted cap space, they would try to move on from other players first.
Because if the Cowboys were to release him, they would have a $30,080,000 million dead cap hit, according to Spotrac, and trying to find a partner to take on his contract is likely impossible.
Nonetheless, I get it's frustrating to watch from fan's views to see your star RB not produce elite stats or live up to his contract.
However, with Elliott healthy (as HC Mike McCarthy has praised him for it), it will be interesting to see how he performs this year.
If I got to choose how to run the running backs, I'm riding with a 1-2 punch from Elliott and Pollard and taking some wear-and-tear off Elliott's body.
Both have shown to complement each other, and giving different looks to opposing defenses will only pay dividends for the Cowboy's questionable offense this year.
So, if you haven't realized–my verdict is FICTION BY A MILE.
Ride out this year with Elliott and Pollard, and if you want to move on from him, the next offseason is the best chance, as the franchise has a way out of his contract.
If moved on, you can re-sign Pollard to a reasonable deal and look at drafting a running back in next year's star-studded RB class that will make fans droll over the potential, and boom, your RB situation is solved.
But in the meantime, let Zeke eat.
