3 most overrated players on the Cowboys 2022 roster

1. Ezekiel Elliott, RB

In 2015, the Cowboys made one of the best decisions ever in regards to a running back contract. Despite DeMarco Murray leading the league in rushing during the 2014 season, they refused to budge on their offer and he wound up leaving for the Philadelphia Eagles.

They looked absolutely brilliant as Darren McFadden ran for over 1,000 yards for them while making a fraction of what Murray did. As for the former league-leading rusher, he didn’t top 1,000 yards as he proved to be a huge disappointment in Philly and was traded to the Tennessee Titans that offseason.

This should have been a lesson to the league that you never pay top-dollar for a running back. Unfortunately, the Cowboys paid no attention to their own lesson because, in 2019, they made one of the worst decisions ever in regards to a running back contract.

Dallas allowed a holdout from Elliott to force their hand as they gave him a comical six-year extension worth $90 million despite the fact that he had two years left on his current deal. On top of that, they had Tony Pollard under contract, and he was more than capable of being the lead back.

Now fast-forward to 2022, and they had to trade away Amari Cooper for a mere fifth-round pick since they could no longer afford him due to Zeke’s contract.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, they also lost Cedrick Wilson after his breakout season which means two of their top three wideouts from 2021 are no longer on the team. But they have a running back… in a passing league.

Dallas has called Elliott the “straw that stirs the drink,” but that just proves they don’t get it. The teams that can win through the air are the ones that win it all in today’s NFL. But Dallas paid Elliott as if it were 1985 and running was king.

That was a huge miscalculation on their part and their overrating of Elliott continues to haunt them. But the good news is, his contract is up in 2027 (and he has an out after this season), so there’s that.