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Ezekiel Elliott is continuing his momentum, but there is an angle that few people consider likely to help in the quick conclusion of this conclusion.
When the Dallas Cowboys ranked 3-2 mid-way through the 2018 season, head-on under head coach Jason Garrett was feeling embers. After all, it was Garrett who made it possible to hire the offensive coordinator, Scott Linehan, and this allowed his mentor to conduct an offensive rethinking – despite evidence that the opposite should have occurred. Garrett and the Cowboys had two black eyes during the process, releasing the leader of the team in receiving touchdowns at Dez Bryant and making a questionable hiring in the offensive line coach Paul Alexander.
The proposed committee WR approach failed miserably – as did their attempt to replace Bryant with an annual $ 16 million annual salary for Sammy Watkins before sticking to this misguided approach – and Alexander was sacked after only seven games with the club. It was necessary to replace Alexander Colomb, OL's assistant coach for a long time, to replace the 2019 first-round pick choice at the Oakland Raiders against Pro Bowl receiver, Amari Cooper, to straighten the ship.
These course corrections saved Garrett's job. The Cowboys then won seven of their last eight regular season games, their second NFC East title in three years, and edged the Seattle Seahawks on the Wild Cards lap to make their NFC division debut. Round match with the Los Angeles Rams. Suddenly, Garrett's seat had become colder than the nails of a polar bear, the owner, Jerry Jones, almost guaranteeing that a contract extension would soon be imminent.
Once the Cowboys were defeated by the Rams, the team decided to expect to extend Garrett and will instead force him to coach his position next season.
It's there that Elliott comes in, monumental way.
As the team prepares for their dress rehearsal against the Houston Texans on August 24, Elliott returned to Cabo to continue training after a short weekend home in Dallas. The All-Pro twice is about to land a new contract before reporting to the team. The discussions have been progressive since the beginning, but the fact is that they are still a little slow as key discussion points as guaranteed money. to be hammered.
The Cowboys are fighting over they put a "top-5" offer in front of Elliott, but he is arguably the league's best running back, which means that the contract of The Veon Bell – which includes $ 35 million guaranteed – does not fit the way the l & # 39; Executor of the team, Stephen Jones, proclaimed the starting point for talks with Elliott would be the contract on Todd Gurley. As a reference, Gurley's contract included a $ 45 million guarantee, a difference of $ 10 million that was hard to discount.
While all this is settled, both sides made headlines in the media as a means of pressure – as has become the norm with NFL negotiations. While owner Jerry Jones jokes in a fun way about "Zeke who?" and Elliott agents say they do not feel respected by gesture, what is lost in all this is Garrett's position.
His work is at stake in 2019, and this is not the best start.
Before a single regular season, Garrett has a double champion – who is also at the center of the team's offensive – threatening to miss games, adding an insult to a literal injury as a wide receiver. Amari Cooper feeds plantar fasciitis in her left foot. Cooper himself refuses to sign his contract offer as well, and even though he expects it to be participating in Week 1, this is obviously another added concern to Garrett's plate .
A less than healthy Cooper can still have an impact, but will it be downright dominant on the wrong foot?
That remains to be determined, but what Garrett knows, Elliott is apparently in excellent form for football thanks to his journey to Cabo. The 24-year-old is looking forward to returning to football and doing damage this season. That's exactly what Garrett needs and that's why he might soon stop whispering in the Jones' collective ear and start shouting openly to get a pretty clear and obvious message – after taking several steps to finally helping the offensive match with defense, so it can not be put in position to start the season without the most powerful weapon of alignment at Elliott.
Even though Cooper was playing his first dominant games with the Cowboys in 2018, it was still at Elliott that the team was counting on bringing the offensive into trouble, sometimes to a point of overwork. Still, the old fourth-row option was still available and last, but Linehan's poor stratagems – which included Elliott's withdrawal from the field in red-zone packets or his presence, but did not use it effectively – leads to a controversy not made public which eventually multiplies in the standout we are all witnesses today.
Now that Linehan is gone and replaced by a younger and fresher Kellen Moore, the addition of Jon Kitna as a quarterback coach and the selection of Tony Pollard's dynamic halfback, everything is in place for Garrett to order an unpredictable and potentially explosive team of Cowboys offense.
Without Elliott, however, this plan rests on bricks in the parking lot.
Pollard thinks he can bear the burden in the absence of Elliott, and he is supposed to do it. His skills are obvious, but he is supposed to be a compliment for Elliott – not a substitute. Elliott remains the best rusher on the team and the best blocker, the latter being a very necessary category for a Cowboys team that can not afford to see Dak Prescott get hurt for a while. Combining Pollard with a newly signed Alfred Morris may be an effective way to relieve Elliott's potentially missing injury, but it is a lot like applying gauze to a gunshot wound.
Flash info: You are bleeding again, but more slowly.
Elder Jones fully understands this, despite the fact that his bargaining tactics were carried out in the media. That's why, between sneaky comments – especially the "team team team" table beat following new linebacker Jaylon Smith – when he was asked in early August he was worried about not having an agreement with Elliott; his understanding of the demider's value shone through.
"No, I do not consider it," he says. "When did I ever do one? So, I do not worry about that. "
For the sake of Garrett's interest, it is better that this proclamation of Jones' braggadocios be true. It's the same Jones who has made it clear during the off-season that money is not the issue in dispute, before suddenly claiming that's the question well. In fact, the Cowboys have a cap of $ 23.9 million and can approach close to $ 100 million in 2020, which leaves a nice slice of the cake for the three most offensive stars. An extension of Cooper in 2019 would reduce his salary cap of $ 13.9 million this season and release a lot more money for Elliott's tastes, who is not inclined to agree to play Gurley's second contract violin – a player who also has long-term health concerns about his knee.
After weeks of negotiations, you can count on Garrett to explain why he needs Elliott on the ground. In the current state of things, a source has constantly asserted me for weeks. The agreement will probably be concluded before the first week. This is good news for everyone involved. Garrett has been in constant contact with Elliott and describes their discussions as totally positive.
For the first, having Elliott is not just about managing the cap. This is Garrett's future with the Cowboys and, for him, it's worth it to increase the supply to ensure that the big gun of the team is back in the holster before welcome the New York Giants on September 8th.
Stroke.
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