3 cutthroat moves Cowboys could make to save $45 million in cap space
By Jerry Trotta
2. Cut Ezekiel Elliott ($10.9 million)
Elliott is adored by Cowboys fans, but the rubber has seemingly met the road in terms of his days of being a premier running back. Even worse is the fact that Elliott no longer looks the part of a middle-of-the-road running back after he averaged 3.8 yards per carry, and totaled just 17 explosive runs in 2022.
It’s just time for the Cowboys to pull the plug on Elliott. We’ve noticed fans on social media campaigning to bring Zeke back — at a truncated salary, of course — to serve as the offense’s goal-line and short-yardage back.
While he notched 12 rushing touchdowns this season, he doesn’t break enough tackles to warrant consideration for that role. According to PFF, Elliott forced 30 missed tackles and averaged a lowly 2.74 yards after contact. Conversely, Tony Pollard forced 41 missed tackles and tallied 3.82 yards after contact.
Making Elliott a post-June 1 cut would save nearly $11 million against the cap. That could be used to re-sign two players if the front office plays its cards right. It’s time for Jerry Jones and company to take a page out of Bill Belichick’s playbook, and put the betterment of the franchise before keeping players happy.