The next Ezekiel Elliott legal barrier to clear, as of now, is scheduled for Oct. 30 in New York. But the NFL is making a push to have that hearing date expedited before the Cowboys-Redskins game in Week 8, Kate Hairopoulos of the Dallas Morning News reports (on Twitter). Elliott’s legal team and the NFLPA are set to plead their case to New York Southern District judge Katherine Failla beginning at 10 a.m. October 30, unless the NFL gets its way and sees this date moved up.
As of Friday, Elliott will be eligible to play in Week 7 and Week 8 for the Cowboys, but the league is attempting to intervene regarding the running back’s possible Week 8 eligibility. The NFLPA, per Hairopoulos (on Twitter), is arguing unavailability for a rescheduled hearing on either Thursday or Friday of next week. The NFL, conversely, said the union rushed into its emergency hearing request in the Southern District on Tuesday — one that resulted in Elliott receiving a TRO.
- Stephen Jones expects to know by the end of this month, coinciding with the above hearing, if his team’s starting running back will be in the clear for the rest of this season or not. “Sure sounds like it,” Jones said regarding a resolution on Elliott’s 2017 status coming by the end of this month (via David Moore of the Dallas Morning News). “Now, you never know with the way things are going, but it’s our understanding it’s going to be a couple of weeks.” Elliott’s latest effort being struck down would at least make missing games likely, even if further legal action could be on tap, since the NFL would reinstate the six-game suspension while his side ponders the next move. Had the Cowboys not had a Week 6 bye, Elliott would have missed that weekend’s game because of the timing in between the Fifth Circuit’s ruling in the NFL’s favor and the Southern District-issued TRO.
- We heard earlier today the NFL is not interested in a settlement in this case, this news coming after previous talks of a settlement surfaced earlier this week.