Cowboys sign Ezekiel Elliott to a massive extension

It looks like the New York Giants will indeed be seeing Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott on the field this Sunday.

After a protracted holdout and some very public saber rattling, the two sides came together to hammer out a deal shortly before the start of the regular season. The result is a mammoth 6-year, $90 million extension for the running back, with $50 million guaranteed. This comes on the heels of the Cowboys signing linebacker Jaylon Smith to a 5-year $64 million ($35.5 million guaranteed) extension and OT La’El Collins to a 5-year, $50 million ($35 million guaranteed) extension. Back in April, the Cowboys signed EDGE Demarcus Lawrence to a massive 5-year, $105 million ($65 million guaranteed) contract extension.

Of course, given the history of the Cowboys’ contracts, these numbers are likely subject to change as they restructure contracts to create cap relief in future seasons. And while doing so could create a monstrous amount of dead money on their salary cap, for now they have a good core of young players under contract for a long time.

Their next moves will be to sign QB Dak Prescott and WR Amari Cooper to long term extensions.

From the Giants’ perspective, the team now knows they will have to deal with Elliott for not just the season opener, but for the foreseeable future. Elliott’s contract will also help provide the framework (and likely the absolute floor) for what an eventual Saquon Barkley extension will look like.