Cowboys restructure Ezekiel Elliott's contract, creating close to $7 million in cap space

Dallas converted a portion of Zeke's base salary into a signing bonus

The Dallas Cowboys are once again kicking the financial can down the road by restructuring the contract of one of their star players. According to a report from ESPN.com's Field Yates, Dallas converted $8.6M million of Elliott's $9.6 million base salary into a signing bonus, creating $6.88 million in cap space in the process. 

Per overthecap.com, Dallas now has approximately $12.6 million in room under the cap at the moment, which it can either use to sign free agents ahead of the season or roll it over to next offseason. The Cowboys are over next year's projected cap number with their current salary commitments, so it may be more valuable for them to roll the additional space over to create some breathing room next year. 

The Cowboys were already committed to Elliott for at least the next two seasons given the financial realities of his contract, but this restructure seems likely to extend his tenure through at least the 2023 season. He is set to count against the cap for just $6.82 million in 2021, but his cap number will jump to $18.2 million in 2022 and $16.7 million in 2023. The dead cap numbers in the event that the Cowboys cut Elliott in either of the next two offseasons are $30.8 million (making him virtually uncuttable prior to 2022) and $11.9 million in 2023 (meaning the Cowboys would save less than $5 million by releasing him before the 2023 season). 

Those figures are notable because while Elliott is heading into just his age-26 season, he already has a lot of miles on his odometer. He has 1,654 touches under his belt through his first five NFL seasons -- more than all but 10 players in NFL history, and that's despite serving a six-game suspension during his second year in the league. He is also coming off a 2020 campaign during which he totaled a career-low 979 rushing yards, and averaged career-lows at 4.0 yards per carry, 6.5 yards per reception, and 4.4 yards per touch. The Dallas offensive line had numerous injury issues throughout the season and the Cowboys played without quarterback Dak Prescott for more than two-thirds of the year as well, but Elliott himself looked noticeably less explosive after reporting to camp in less-than-ideal shape. 

After arguably being out-played by backup Tony Pollard, Elliott appears to be in significantly better shape this offseason, and Cowboys coaches and teammates seem to have taken notice during camp. He is presumably going to be a big part of the team's offense for the foreseeable future, and after this financial maneuver, the Cowboys will need to hope he bounces back not only this season, but for several more. 

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