Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott is about to become one of the highest-paid running backs in the league after being selected in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft.
According to Jason Belzer of Forbes, the projected contract Elliott is slated to receive will be $24,965,720 over four years. Elliott will also have a fifth-year option in his contract because he was selected in the first round.
If we are looking at total contract values for active NFL running backs, the near $25 million Elliott is slated to receive would rank him eighth at his position.
Coincidentally, Elliott’s average salary of $6.24 million per year is just slightly less than the $6.25 million that former Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray will earn with the Tennessee Titans in 2016.
Adrian Peterson ranks first in this category at $14 million per season. He’s followed by LeSean McCoy, Jonathan Stewart, Doug Martin and Chris Ivory rounding out the top five.
For the sake of comparison, Elliott will earn over $5 million more per year than Pittsburgh Steelers ball carrier Le’Veon Bell, who will cash in $1.03 million in 2016.
Bell was selected in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft and is under contract through 2017. We can only imagine what is in store when the time arrives to sign Bell to an extension.
Nevertheless, Elliott will be under a ton of pressure to perform at a high level as a rookie. Running backs are rarely selected in the top 10, a clear indication that the Cowboys are expecting a lot out of him. His contract will also suggest this moving forward.