Frisco, Texas – applause.
The Cowboys finally did what they were supposed to do at the end of last year's training camp.
They're looking to sign Ezekiel Elliott to a one-year deal worth up to $3 million, but only $2 million of that is guaranteed.
Just to be clear, don't look at this as a course correction for failing to draft a running back in last week's NFL Draft. As if this is exactly why the Cowboys didn't spend one of their eight draft picks on a running back, keeping Zeke in their back pocket.
it's not. After hearing the Cowboys talk about the issue on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and even after word of Wednesday's gathering, the Cowboys have been trying to do this. All you had to do was pay close attention when Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was asked about Zeke during and after his second-day press conference.
First, during a press conference,
Does Zeke in your mind still have the ability to be a starter at RB 1 at this point in his career?
“Yes…yes,” Jerry answered simply.
And during a walk-off session just minutes after the presser, Jerry doubled down on Zeke, saying, “He's a good enough player to be our running back and play for the Cowboys,” and then add: He also pointed out that. It's good enough as a starter. ”
Elliott was originally released for cap-saving purposes, ensuring that the Cowboys and Zeke would be reunited after parting ways.
And now, since the veteran's contract does not affect the loss of unrestricted free agency and next year's compensation scheme under the contract (see also the contract with linebacker Damian Wilson), Zeke will be inducted after a physical. Once dry, you should return to the building. And the NFL put him on the trade wire.
This is good. The Cowboys needed him last year to caddy for Tony Pollard, and they need him again this year. Think about the problems they would have had they not had a strict, serious running back to protect the short yards and goal line. Think back to the times you struggled to hit the ball for a touchdown inside the 5-yard line. The Cowboys settled for a field goal of 28 yards or less in the ninth inning. That means 4 of those yards were snapped from within 5 yards at the 10-yard line.
And his first possession in a 22-20 loss to Miami is still fresh in his mind. On second-and-goal, Pollard tried to break up the run on the outside and hit a hard off tackle, scoring a touchdown and gaining just 1 yard. Then, on the very next play, Dak Prescott and rookie Hunter Luepke fumbled a handoff, and the Dolphins trailed by two points. Not even a trivial three.
Indeed, it's easy to see why the Cowboys didn't want to keep Zeke at his $10.9 million home base in 2023, especially after franchising Pollard for $10 million and releasing him on June 1st. But still, in doing so, Sieg is counting $5.8 million in dead money already paid out in guarantees last year, and still counting another $6.04 million this year anyway. It might be good to get something from him for that.
Plus, last year wasn't the year the Patriots paid him a lot of money. For just $3 million, his signing bonus was $600,000. If he had agreed to that with Dallas, it would have been a welcome do-over.
Look, I'm not saying he needs to be the starter. Free agency isn't over yet, right? By the way, the trade deadline isn't until November 5th. But if you look at the current room with Rico Doodle, Royce Freeman, Lupke, Deuce Vaughn, Malik Davis, Snoop Conner, and undrafted rookie Nathaniel Peete, they've played a total of nine games in the NFL. He's started all of them, all of them for Freeman, a free agent signee, but eight of those games came during his 2018 rookie year with Denver.
That naturally begs the question of why the Cowboys didn't draft a running back. good question.
You'll get a good answer here.
Running backs were never drafted in the first round. In the second time the first was taken, Carolina selected Texas' Jonathon Brooks at 46.th The Cowboys have 10 picks left with the 56th pick. It's not worth sacrificing a third-round pick to trade a player who is still recovering from ACL surgery.
The next running back wasn't selected until the No. 3 pick, Florida State's Trey Benson, went to Arizona. Benson certainly caught the Cowboys' eye, but having Marshawn Nyland at second was more important to that run-stopping effort than running the ball. Then again, they weren't willing to trade valuable picks to move up that far. Additionally, to me, probably the best pick of the eight the Cowboys selected was Cooper Beebe – 3rd inning, 9th, 73rd Overall, it is an essential position for the guard to move to center and run the ball better.
Then the Rams acquired Michigan's Blake Columm at 83, and the Cowboys acquired linebacker Marist Liufau at 87, considering him more valuable than 88-year-old USC running back Marshawn Lloyd. The Cowboys didn't have another pick until he was 39 years old.th Drafted in the 5th round (174). By that point, 12 running backs had come off the board before the 88-year-old Lloyd and the Cowboys selected cornerback Kaelen Carson in the fifth inning.
My guess is that by then, and probably through the 12 guys off the board, the Cowboys will have no player as good as Dowdle, or clearly better, given the opportunity he should have been given this year. I think they may have decided that it wasn't there. And between the ability to provide short-yardage power and pass protection and the leadership needed in the locker room, nothing gives them what Zeke can do.
There's more to running backs than yards per carry, and it's a statistic that numbers-obsessed people like to point to as the reason for Zeke's downfall. Sometimes you just have to watch with your eyes. For me, Zeke in 2022 averaged above the 3.8 per carry that most people wanted to fire him from.
So instead of just tying a ribbon and tying a bow, here are some numbers you might have missed when you peeked inside the stats box. In 11 of the first 13 games of 202, Zeke averaged 4.3 yards per carry, and without Tyron Smith at left tackle for the entire season, Zeke played right tackle Terrence Smith in those 13 games. This was the result if Steele was present. In six of those games, he averaged at least 4.1 per carry, including 5.2 in the opener against Tampa Bay, 4.9 and 5.8 in both games against the Giants, and 6.2 against the Eagles.
However, with Steele going down with a torn ACL in Week 14 against Houston and Tyron Smith starting the next four games at right tackle for the first time since 2012, Zeke's average over the last four games was It decreased to 3.6, 3.4, 1.9, and 1.3. With a total of 2.7, Zeke contributed greatly to his drop from his 4.3 to a 3.8 by the time he finished.
And in 2023, he first played a reserve role in New England, then started five of the 17 games he played in the second half of the season, but with the Patriots ranked 30th with an almost pathetic record of 4 wins and 13 losses. He only played in 51% of the games.th aggressively. Still, in his eighth season, Zeke led the Patriots in rushing (642 yards) and receiving (51 catches for 313 yards), totaling a team-high 955 yards from scrimmage and ranking second against New England with five total touchdowns. It means that it became. , he played 75 percent of the snaps but fell one short of tight end Hunter Henry's six touchdown receptions.
All this despite quarterbacks Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe averaging 6.1 yards per pass attempt and an abysmal team QB rating of 73.8, which is why Bill Belichick resigned as head coach. be.
Who would you rather have a running back like Kaelen Carson, who picks South Dakota State's Isaiah Davis at No. 5 with the 173rd pick or Zeke with the next pick? Because by then, and maybe It's possible to go in the third round or later, and if there wasn't a fourth round, any running back drafted in the fifth round or later probably wouldn't have made this team, with or without Zeke.
Don't get upset just because the Cowboys didn't draft a running back within the top four picks. And none of this has anything to do with devaluing a running back. That's due to both the solid fall in the draft and lack of cap space in free agency.
As for Sieg, well, welcome back.
