All eyes now on Ezekiel Elliott after the Cowboys tag Tony Pollard

Things are about to heat up around the Dallas Cowboys. With the team placing the franchise tag on Tony Pollard Monday afternoon, the focus now shifts to Ezekiel Elliott, and it’s time to get the popcorn ready. 

Let get right to it. Zeke is set to count for $16.4 million against the salary cap with a $10.4 million base salary. Yikes! I have talked about this time and time again recently. They have two options: make Elliott take a gigantic pay cut or simply release him. 

Zeke told the team after the season ended that he would be willing to take that pay cut to stay with the team. Look, I like Elliott. Yes, he is nowhere near what he used to be and just don’t have much left, but he can still punch the ball in the end zone and pick up short-yardage first downs. That is all they need him for. 

When Jerry Jones did his favorite thing last week (speaking to the media), he told folks that the knee injury to Zeke was the primary reason for him notching a career-low 876 rushing yards last season. Although that probably added to the problem, he just does not have that burst anymore. 

With Pollard receiving the tag, the guess the team is working on a long-term contact. The hope is the Cowboys learned from what they got themselves into with Zeke’s huge payday and not dish out a ton of money for him.