Ezekiel Elliott Low Value? 'Who's Going to Tell Zeke The Truth?' Wonders Cowboys Ex Coach

The quote comes from Skip Peete, who is now a Bucs staffer but who was Elliott's position coach in Dallas for the last three seasons before moving on to the Buccaneers. And it seems harsh.

FRISCO - Our first reaction to the comment about unsigned veteran running back Ezekiel Elliott that just came out of Tampa Bay - and out of the mouth of Zeke's former position coach with the Dallas Cowboys - is that something must have gotten lost in the translation ... or, at least, there is more depth to be obtained regarding the stated view of assistant Skip Peete.

The quote, as it stands, via the respected Tampa Bay beat writer Ric Stroud, comes from Peete, who is now a Bucs staffer but who was Elliott's position coach in Dallas for the last three seasons before moving on to Tampa this offseason.

And it goes like like, Stroud setting the scene by paraphrasing Peete saying that Elliott will now have to accept that his role on a new team will take him from being a $12 million APY running back to being a $4 million running back.

And then the direct quote attributed to Peete: "So who's gonna be the one to tell him?''

There is "tough love,'' and there is ... this, which without additional context sounds like Peete is sort of ripping on Elliott, who turns 28 in July and who having been cut by the Cowboys this offseason despite his two NFL rushing titles is obviously on the backside of his career.

Can Peete possibly mean it to sound a cruel as it comes off? Surely not, given how close Elliott and Peete are - so close that the relationship has fueled much of our speculation that Elliott might land with the Bucs because he'll have his position coach stumping for him.

The "role player'' portion of the remark, by the way, is not newsworthy; Elliott, who rushed for 876 yards on 231 carries in 2022, is a pro's pro who rushed for  22 touchdowns over the last two seasons. He can still help a team in some capacity.

But the remark from Peete is newsworthy in that it sets a framework that has not previously been stated publicly by any team - that Elliott's new price tag might be in the range of $4 million.

Now, as to the question of, “So who's gonna be the one to tell him?” Well, coach, we think he already knows But in case he was oblivious to where this is going? It seems you just did the telling.

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