How Ezekiel Elliott’s Contract and Stats Compare to Derrick Henry’s

Derrick Henry became a free agent during the 2024 NFL offseason for the first time in his career, and he had an ideal landing spot in mind.

The longtime Tennessee Titans running back had visions of joining the Dallas Cowboys. For what?

“I was thinking maybe Dallas because I live there,” Henry said at the start of the 2024 NFL season. “It would be a convenient location.”

However, the Cowboys never came calling. Henry ended up joining the Baltimore Ravens and with them experienced a career renaissance. He leads the NFL in rushing yards and touchdowns for 10 weeks and had a massive game in his early season matchup against Dallas.

Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones was asked about the team’s decision not to pursue Henry after the running back’s 151-yard, two-touchdown performance against Dallas.

“We couldn’t afford Derrick Henry,” Jones offered as an excuse.

There was some truth in Jones’ confession. Dallas took the cheap route at running back, turning to familiar face Ezekiel Elliott as one of their only free agent signings of the offseason to add depth to their backfield.

Elliott was uninspiring in his second stint with the Cowboys, showing little flash and working behind Rico Dowdle in a Dallas running attack that entered Week 10 as the second-worst in the NFL.

Here’s what to know about Elliott’s contract, how it compares to Henry’s deal with the Ravens and how each has fared during the 2024 NFL season.

Ezekiel Elliott contract details

The Cowboys signed Elliott to a one-year contract worth $2 million during the 2024 NFL offseason. The signing returned Dallas to the No. 4 pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, who spent the first seven years of his career with the Cowboys before a one-year stop with the New England Patriots in 2023.

Below is a look at the full contract details, according to Spotrac.com.

Term: 1 year
Total value: 2 million dollars
Average Annual Value (AAV): 2 million dollars
Money guaranteed: $1.625 million

Elliott’s contract is tied for 37th among NFL running backs in AAV with Alexander Mattison of the Las Vegas Raiders and Travis Homer of the Chicago Bears.

Elliott carries a $2 million cap hit on his current contract, just 0.78% of the NFL’s 2024 salary cap.

However, Elliott’s previous contract with the Cowboys is still in place for $6.04 million in dead money, according to OverTheCap.com. In this case, his dead hit comes from the guaranteed money he was paid on his previous contract, which Dallas voided as part of his 2023 release.

Combined, Elliott’s two deals take up $8.04 million of Dallas’ cap space. So while Elliott is much cheaper than Henry when it comes to the total amount of his new deal with the Cowboys, he still eats up a significant portion of Dallas’ cap space.

Derrick Henry contract details

Henry signed a two-year contract with the Ravens worth up to $16 million during the 2024 NFL offseason. Below are the terms of his deal, according to Spotrac.com.

Term: 2 years
Total value: $16 million
Average Annual Value (AAV): 8 million dollars
Money guaranteed: 9 million dollars

Henry’s $8 million AAV ranks 10th among running backs league-wide, tied with Bears starter D’Andre Swift. Henry’s cap hit for the season is much lower, however, as he only accounts for $5.105 million this season. That makes him an affordable option for the Ravens, although his cap hit will hit $10.9 million in 2024.

That said, the Ravens are paying Henry a total of $9 million — $1.21 million in base salary and $7.79 million in signing bonus — in 2024, despite his lower cap hit. That makes Henry’s cash payment 4 1/2 times more expensive than Elliott’s for the 2024 season.

So, going back to Jones, Dallas would have had to spend a lot more to get Henry than to get Elliott. But when you consider the Cowboys’ $20.7 million in available cap space and compare the difference in production between the two backs, it would have been worth it.

Ezekiel Elliott Stats vs. Derrick Henry Stats

Elliott continued his decline in 2024, averaging 3.2 yards per carry and just 7.6 touches per game. Meanwhile, Henry is on pace to lead the NFL in rushing for the fifth time in six years while also leading the league in yards, touchdowns and yards per carry (a career-high 6.1).

Below is a look at each running back’s stats entering Week 11 and where they rank in the league:

Ezekiel Elliott Statistics

Door: 54 (56th)
Rushed construction sites: 171 (70th)
Rushed TDs: 2 (T-42e)
Yards per transport: 3.2 (DNQ)
Receptions: 7 (T-249e)
Reception sites: 40 (T-246e)
TD reception: 0 (T-201e)
PFF quality: 60.6 (53rd out of 63)

Derrick Henry Statistics

Door: 184 (1st)
Rushed construction sites: 1,120 (1st)
Rushed TDs: 12 (1st)
Yards per transport: 6.1 (1st)
Receptions: 10 (T-205e)
Reception sites: 96 (T-214e)
TD reception: 2 (T-64e)
PFF quality: 91.3 (2nd out of 63)

Should the Cowboys have signed Henry for that premium price? Maybe Jones really didn’t have money in the budget for him.

But if Dallas did that and still decided to pick Elliott over Henry, that’s a choice Jones and Co. will regret. There’s no doubt that Henry, an Offensive Player of the Year candidate, deserves the 450% cash premium on the deal for Elliott, who is a replacement player at best at this point in his career .