With the recent devaluation of running backs in the NFL, many scratched their heads when the Dallas Cowboys elected to use the No. 4 overall pick on Ohio State rusher Ezekiel Elliott. Earlier this week, Elliott signed his four-year, $24.9 million rookie deal, which is fully guaranteed and comes with a $16.3 million signing bonus. Dallas is now officially past the point of no return, though they were never overly concerned with the growing narrative surrounding running backs.
Look around the league at the big money deals some RBs were scoring in free agency. Doug Martin (five years, $35.75 million), Chris Ivory (five years, $32 million) and Lamar Miller (four years, $26 million) all cashed in.
"Running backs, after they have some wear and tear on them, may not be the right investment as they go forward," executive vice president Stephen Jones said following the selection of Elliott.
"It is real easy to sit back and say, 'Well, the value of the running back is coming this way financially in terms of cap dollars.' We actually have done some work and believe that some of their best years, the great ones, are in their first five years. So you are maybe getting the best part of the running back in his first five years versus the second contract."
The Cowboys, right or wrong, believe in the Elliott selection because of what he can bring to the table in the first few years of his cost controlled contract.
"You get a back of this level, frankly as a running back, right in the prime of his career, you can literally hit the ground running," Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said. "You don't have a year or two of acclimation that you might have at other positions."
Down the road, the Cowboys will have the ability to exercise Elliott's fifth-year option, which may cost between $9 million and $11 million in 2020. That would put Elliott's entire five-year contract at $34.9 million, right in line with the big free agent deals mentioned above. Only in this case, the Cowboys are getting a fresh, young running back with hardly any mileage on him.
"Sometimes you are getting the best part of him when you get him right out of college and they are ready to roll," Stephen Jones said. "One of the things about Ezekiel is that not only is he a great running back, which we all equate to running, but he brings so many other things to the table.
"He is so well-rounded, about as well-rounded as we've seen in a while in terms of catching the ball out of the backfield, protecting the quarterback, which we all know in this room is so important to us with Tony [Romo]. He just brings so much to the table right there."
Follow Brandon Katz at @Great_Katzby
