Daniel Roberts,Senior Writer,Yahoo Finance•September 4, 2019

The Dallas Cowboys and running back Ezekiel Elliott finally came to terms on Wednesday morning on an eye-popping six-year, $90 million contract extension that makes Elliott the highest-paid running back in NFL history.

The deal ends a long, ugly holdout between the team and the team’s star player, a holdout during which some criticized team owner Jerry Jones for letting it last so long.

Just a few hours after the all-night negotiating talks ended, Jones was on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange to ring the opening bell on behalf of oil and gas firm Comstock Resources, and to tout the kickoff of the NFL’s 100th season.

In an interview from the NYSE floor with Yahoo Finance, Jones defended his approach to the Elliott contract situation, and said he’s happy with the result.

“Zeke will hit the ground running,” Jones said. “We didn’t deliberately let anything drag on. Anyone knows it’s a negotiation. And I’d rather be answering why it went on too long before the first game—and got done—than to be sitting there in the third game not having it done... I may be almost $100 million lighter, but I’m happier.”