Shalise Manza Young,Yahoo Sports•August 22, 2019

Things move quickly in the NFL.

In the span of just a few days, we’ve followed along with the Dallas Cowboys drama-within-a-drama when it comes to holdout running back Ezekiel Elliott.

On Sunday, Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones quipped, “Zeke who?” when asked about the preseason play of rookie Tony Pollard.

On Monday, Elliott’s agent, Rocky Arceneaux, told ESPN that neither he nor Elliott found Jones’ “joke” to be all that funny, and believed it to be disrespectful; Elliott returned to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, where he’s been training, after the swipe.

On Tuesday, Jones growled to media that he’s “earned” the right to joke with Elliott.

On Wednesday, Cowboys VP Stephen Jones took a swipe at Arceneaux, a veteran agent who represents Hall of Famers Marshall Faulk and Eric Dickerson as well as Elliott, Donald Penn, Nickell Robey-Coleman and others.

Now on Thursday, comes news that perhaps there’s been some movement in a positive direction.

Recent contract offer

Citing sources, Ed Werder of ESPN tweeted: “the most recent offer in negotiations between holdout Ezekiel Elliott and the Cowboys came from the team. Elliott has been offered a contract making him one of the NFL’s 2 highest-paid [running backs].”

As Werder notes, that would likely mean the offer is more than what Le’Veon Bell agreed to with the New York Jets this year but less than what Todd Gurley agreed to the Los Angeles Rams last year.

Werder did not offer numbers.

As with all NFL contracts, the only number that really matters is guaranteed money. Gurley’s deal is four years, $57.5 million, with over three-quarters, $45 million, guaranteed.

Bell’s deal is four years, $52.5 million, with just 51.4 percent, or $27 million, guaranteed.