Reports: Ezekiel Elliott considers holding out without a new contract

Last year, it was Le’Veon Bell and the Pittsburgh Steelers. This season, it could be Ezekiel Elliott and the Dallas Cowboys.

Pro Football Talk and Yahoo’s Charles Robinson reported Monday Dallas’ running back is contemplating a holdout if he doesn’t get a new contract.

PFT ignited the fuse and Robinson followed with this series of tweets:

1. Elliott hasn’t made a decision to hold out of #Cowboys camp…yet. But he’s absolutely thinking it through and definitely wants an extension in the works. This was going to be a week where he and his people laid out their options and made continued overtures to the Cowboys.

— Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) July 15, 2019

2. #Cowboys Elliott knows his value is at a high point right now and wants to protect himself with a long term deal, because he’s expecting to carry the load in a big way this season. He absolutely want some longer term security from a new deal.

— Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) July 15, 2019

3. Elliott’s extension push wouldn’t be a surprise to the #Cowboys. The lines of communication have been open with Zeke’s camp for more than a month. There has been a continuing dialogue about a Zeke deal in ownership and a team source told me Stephen is running point in talks.

— Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) July 15, 2019

4. From what I‘ve gathered about where this is headed, a big part of this is whether the two sides are feeling good about the progress of talks. If #Cowboys are making a serious push to get an extension worked, I believe that would impact whether Zeke shows for the start of camp.

— Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) July 15, 2019

5. Bottom line: Zeke hasn’t settled on holding out (yet) and #Cowboys haven’t shut down extension talks (yet). But it’s going to be fluid this week. If Cowboys aren’t proactive about a deal, I think this could go sideways fast. It hasn’t yet. This will be an important week.

— Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) July 15, 2019

Elliott has rushed for 4,048 yards in three seasons after being selected fourth overall out of Ohio State. He led the league in rushing twice, missing in 2017 when he sat out six games due to a league-mandated suspension.