Hall of fame running back Marshall Faulk is playing a huge role in the Ezekiel Elliott contract dispute with Jerry Jones and Dallas Cowboy fans do not like it one bit. With week 1 of the regular season fast approaching and no deal yet to be reported, Cowboys Nation is starting to panic. The last thing Cowboy fans want to hear aside from Jerry Jones antagonizing his star running back is the retired former player and analyst making the situation worse than it already is.
Marshall Faulk shares the same agent as Ezekiel Elliott and has been helping him train in Mexico while Zeke is holding out for a new contract. The concern that Cowboy fans have is that Faulk is not just helping Zeke get in shape, but also getting in his ear and driving a wedge between the All-Pro running back, Jerry Jones, and his teammates. Here are some samples of the comments that Marshall Faulk has publicly stated of late:
These comments are disturbing because they imply that Ezekiel Elliott is pitting himself against his teammates while negotiating his contract extension. Jerry Jones did say “There is only so much pie to go around”. If Elliott is concerned that Jaylon Smith and Dak Prescott are taking too much of his pie, then this hold out could bleed from the business side of things over to the personal side. Ezekiel Elliott has remained silent on the matter thus far so it is unclear what his true feelings are. What is abundantly clear is that if he continues to allow Marshall Faulk to speak up on his behalf then he is at risk of alienating his teammates as well as his fans.
Hold outs are a nasty business, but that is exactly what they are…business. Allowing the Ezekiel Elliott contract dispute to get personal does no one any favors. What began as a minor setback is threatening to linger into the regular season and grow and fester into a cancerous wound that will infect the entire locker room, organization, and fanbase. All this is being perpetuated by Marshall Faulk, the man quickly becoming the most hated man in Dallas, Texas.
Hopefully a deal can get done. Hopefully, Ezekiel Elliott will consider all variables for his future contract such as state tax laws, and remaining a part of the Dallas Cowboys brand. Hopefully Jerry and Stephen Jones do not try to be too frugal in offering guaranteed money to Zeke. And most of all hopefully, Marshall will shut the Faulk up already!
*Photo by Lance Cheung https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/