National Football League

Ezekiel Elliott's former position coach: Zeke must accept huge pay cut

Published May. 10, 2023 1:30 p.m. ET

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Greg Auman

NFC South Reporter

Former Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott remains unsigned nearly two months after NFL free agency, and his former position coach in Dallas, Skip Peete, said the former Pro Bowl back needs to accept that he'll be making less and doing less wherever he lands.

"I think he would be good in any situation," said Peete, now the Tampa Bay Bucs' running backs coach, on Wednesday. "I'm not sure exactly how the dynamic of explaining to him, like I told him, 'You're going to play for a million dollars.' I think he was making like $12 [million]. 

"So who's going to be the one to tell him that? I think that's part of the reason he's [still] sitting out there. If you're going to play, and you're going to be the second or third guy, that's kind of what the price is. That's something that a person has to make a decision on, if that's what they want to do."

Elliott, 27, was four years into a six-year, $90 million contract, but the Cowboys opted to release him after placing the franchise tag on Tony Pollard, who led them in rushing last season in earning his first Pro Bowl nod. Elliott led the NFL in rushing in two of his first three seasons but hasn't made a Pro Bowl since 2019 and had career lows last year in rushing yards (876) and yards per carry (3.8).

He isn't expected to sign with the Bucs, but Peete said he still thinks Elliott can be a productive running back in the NFL.

"I think Zeke is still a good, quality running back, in my opinion," Peete said. "The thing you fail to write is he's not playing 90 percent of the game anymore. He's playing 50 ... so your numbers are going to naturally go down. By the way, he still scored 12 touchdowns. He still caught the ball well, still had numerous third-and-1s and short-area goal-line plays where he helped us win games. He's still a physical load. I think the thing that I admire him for was accepting that role. It was hard."

Peete said he wasn't surprised by the Cowboys' decision to move on from Elliott, knowing those decisions are dictated by money and the salary cap, and he knew Dallas couldn't afford to pay both of their backs a high salary.

"I know Jerry [Jones] said 'I really love this guy,' and I think he truly does," Peete said. "But they tagged Tony, and you can't have two guys in the room making $25 million, so one of them had to go, and it wasn't going to be Tony. I think the writing was on the wall that he had to go."

NFL teams have been increasingly hesitant to pay big money for veteran running backs, and Peete said, "It's almost like the running back room is becoming a dying breed," which is unfortunate for a longtime running backs coach to see.

"If you don't have a running game, you can't win," he said. "You can say what you want to say and sling it all you want, but if you don't have anybody to take the pressure off the quarterback from time to time and move the clock and rest your defense, you're not going to have success."

Greg Auman is FOX Sports’ NFC South reporter, covering the Buccaneers, Falcons, Panthers and Saints. He is in his 10th season covering the Bucs and the NFL full-time, having spent time at the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.  

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Greg Auman