1. Ezekiel Elliott, RB
It’s hard to find a contract in the entire NFL worse than the one the Cowboys gave to Ezekiel Elliott. He held out in 2019 despite having two years left on his current deal and even with Dak Prescott and Cooper having less time on their deals, the Jones family gave in and allowed Zeke to jump the line.
What’s worse is they didn’t even just give him a new deal, but instead, they added six years and $90 million onto the contract he already had. That means he’s under contract until 2027. It didn’t take nearly that long for the rest of the world to point out how bad this contract was.
Outside of Dallas, the rest of the NFL gets it. Nick Chubb was given a four-year deal, with an out for the Cleveland Browns after two seasons. The same happened with Derrick Henry. But for Dallas, they added six years to a deal with two years on it — meaning they gave Elliott eight years to play a position that is usually too demanding to play effectively more than four-to-six seasons total.
That terrible move cost them a shot at keeping CeeDee Lamb, Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup, and Cedrick Wilson together. Instead, they have just Lamb and Gallup (coming off a torn ACL) in a pass-first league.
To prove they also don’t get it, they have gone on record and blamed their quarterback and his contract for their inability to retain players, while calling their running back the “straw that stirs the drink.” Again… in a pass-happy NFL.