Ezekiel Elliott Deal Could Be Just An Early Headache For Cowboys, Jerry Jones | Bleacher's report

The Dallas Cowboys have one of the biggest problems in the NFL: they have an abundance of talent.

This, of course, is a dilemma that many teams would like to have. The Bengals would entrust their problem to a real Bengal tiger.

Dallas could be the most talented football team, especially in attack. Now that Ezekiel Elliott and the Cowboys have finally accepted a new deal worth $ 90 million over six years (as first announced by ESPN Todd Archer), no one should be stunned if he gets to the Super Bowl this year. They are so good.

This is great news if you are a Cowboy fan.

But the franchise also has a huge problem. A potentially catastrophic. There is no way for Cowboys to pay all their stars and maintain the depth of their talent. It is impossible.

Just after the month of April, noted Archer, the Cowboys have agreed new deals worth $ 309 million. There is Elliott. DeMarcus Lawrence, the playmaker, has threatened to stay out this season before being awarded a five – year contract in the amount of $ 105 million (with a guarantee of 65 millions of dollars). There is linebacker Jaylon Smith, who has signed again for five years and $ 64 million ($ 35.5 million guaranteed). Then there's offensive tackle The Collins, who signed a five-year $ 50 million deal with $ 35 million guaranteed.

And now there is nothing left to try to lock Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper.

So, while the Cowboys should win a lot of games in the immediate future, they will probably also have prolonged resistance like the one we saw with Elliott, fights for money and tough decisions that will inevitably lead to the departure of many of their best players. teams.

Yes, with the return of Elliott, Dallas could dominate the sport over the next few years, but at the same time, the money, the contracts and the salary cap will suffice, well, as the salary cap is supposed to do it. This will limit the long-term success of a team.

Look at the rams. Last year, they signed a record contract with half-offensively Todd Gurley: four years, $ 57.5 million and $ 45 million in guaranteed money. The bet paid off as the Rams reached the Super Bowl. However, according to Spotrac, the contract caps for the 2020s to 23 s will rise to $ 57 million. This will prevent the Rams from signing many of their current stars and seriously engaging in free will. So while it may be argued that this deal helped them reach the Super Bowl, it is possible that this also limits their long-term success.

The Kirk Cousins ​​quarterback is another example. The Vikings signed it for a three-year contract, worth $ 84 million, fully guaranteed. The Vikings missed the playoffs last year. They have a chance to make them this year, but Cousins' contract will weigh heavily on the franchise for the next two years. Its ceiling reached for 2019 and 2020 is an incredible $ 60 million.

People forget that one of the original goals of the salary cap – in addition to limiting the salaries of players – was to limit dynasties. The NFL wants winners from the west coast south of the Atlantic coast. That has not always worked (look at the Patriots, who have been immune from criticism, largely because Tom Brady has to impose salary caps on sunlight for vampires), but the Salary cap erased more good teams than Bill Belichick.

Each new deal makes the future more difficult in Dallas.

Take the new contract with Rams quarterback Jared Goff.

According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Goff signed a four-year extension of $ 134 million. The deal includes a remarkable amount of money guaranteed of $ 110 million, an NFL record. Amazing numbers.

It's hard to say that Prescott is not at least as good as Goff. So, does not it make sense for Prescott and his agents to ask at least what Goff got?

And they will have the right to do it. That's the market. Goff has just defined it. And if the Cowboys say that they will not pay, you will probably see Prescott doing what Elliott just did: wait for the Cowboys.

This is not everything. Receiver Amari Cooper enters the final year of his rookie contract after playing the last four seasons at a lower value than the market.

Do you think Cooper will stay quiet and do nothing?

The Cowboys could work on an extension with Cooper this week. They know how good he is. In nine regular season games with Dallas last year, he captured 53 passes for a total of 725 yards with six touchdowns. It was a different, more explosive player, Prescott throwing him the ball rather than Derek Carr in Oakland. Cooper and Prescott surely know it.

Several team officials (not on the Cowboys) assume that the Dallas plan has always been to extend Elliott, then Cooper and Prescott. They also believe that owner Jerry Jones thinks Cooper will be easier to sign than Prescott. This makes sense given what Goff just received.

The problem is that if Jones pays Elliott, Prescott and Cooper the market-determined money, he will limit what the Cowboys can do with the other players. There are defensive players that they still need to extend.

But if the Cowboys only care about Prescott or Cooper, not both, it will surely drain some of those exceptional talents that can make the difference between a playoff team and a Super Bowl candidate.

To be fair, deciding which elite talents to keep on a list of stacked players is a thorny problem to have, but that's a problem.

The salary cap increases each year, but not enough so that the Cowboys can pay all their best talents. Some may slip out of their reach.

The Cowboys will win. A lot. But they will not beat the salary cap. He remains undefeated.

Mike Freeman covers the NFL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @mikefreemanNFL.