It is official. After being a no-show for an airplane ride to La-la land, former Ohio State and current Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott did not show at the Cowboys first day of training camp Friday.
He didn’t arrive on his own by plane, train, automobile, speed boat, or hang-glider. So let the clock begin.
It was widely speculated that Elliott could hold out and follow suit of players like wide receiver Michael Thomas of the Saints and running back Melvin Gordon of the Charges. Those two — like Elliott — have two years remaining on their rookie contracts and are also holding out to provide leverage for getting another, more lucrative deal done.
The Cowboys brass had a press-conference Friday to kick-off training camp and tackled the news of Elliott not reporting. At that press-conference, Cowbodys owner Jerry Jones was direct and poignant about the situation.
“He’s late. We’ve officially reported so he is a non-report officially and all of the mechanism that are in place with your collective bargaining agreement and structurally onto the contract everything is in place and addressed if you’re not where you’re contracted to be so he’s late. We expect everybody that’s under contract to be here at camp.”
According to Collective Bargaining Agreement, the Cowbodys now have the right to fine Elliott for not showing, but it’s up to each individual team’s discretion. If the organization wants to play hard ball, it can levy a fine up to $40,000 per day. While that’s unlikely, you have to wonder how this will all play out.
The speculation is that Elliott would like a deal done before the season so that it’s not hanging over his head. He would also like it to be structured higher than the amount of money Todd Gurley is currently receiving as the highest paid at the position.
We’ll stay on top of this as more news breaks.
