Elliott has been a consistent performer for the Dallas Cowboys during his three seasons with the team and now he wants to be rewarded with a new contract.
Over the course of his short career in the NFL, the Cowboys have relied heavily on the running back to compliment their young quarterback Dak Prescott.
After just three seasons Elliott has 4,048 rushing yards off 868 carries and has a total of 34 career touchdowns and during the regular season he is currently averaging over 21 carries a game.
The Cowboys have already picked up the up Elliott’s fifth-year rookie option and so at the moment he has two years remaining on his rookie deal.
But now, according to Pro Football Talk, Elliott has privately claimed he will hold out of the Cowboys’ training camp unless he’s given a new contract.
Dallas do face a problem this offseason with contract renewals.
Early on they agreed to a $105million deal with pass rusher DeMarcus Lawrence but they also have to negotiate with Prescott, who could be in line for a $30m plus per season deal, wide receiver Amari Cooper – who helped Dallas turn around their season in 2018 and make a run into the playoffs – and Elliott.
As the 23-year-old has two years left on his current deal it appears the Cowboys have dropped Elliott down the pecking order of priories this summer.
At the moment he is set to make $3.85m in 2019 and just over $9m in 2020, but given Elliott’s current production on the field, there is little doubt he will be looking for a similar deal to the leagues top running backs.
The Los Angeles Rams half-back Todd Gurley is on $14.37m a year.
Le’Veon Bell, who sat out an entire year with the Pittsburgh Steelers over a contract dispute, has now joined the New York Jets on a deal worth $13.13m per year. And Arizona Cardinals running back David Johnson is on $13m per year.
Elliott has led the league in rushing yards in two of his three seasons and clearly doesn’t want to wait any longer to get paid what other top running backs in the league are.
A couple of months ago Dallas executive vice president Stephen Jones admitted the importance of agreeing a deal with Elliott.
“Well, I think those are all a work in progress,” Jones previously said.
“Certainly we’ve got a couple years there with Zeke to get that done. We certainly want to get him done.
“He’s the straw, if you will, that stirs our drink. He’s a key part of what we’re about. Those things take time to get done.
“They don’t happen overnight. Certainly he’s a priority in terms of ultimately getting him signed.
“There hasn’t really been a timetable put on this.”
Jones felt the organisation still has time on its side, but that might no longer be the case.