It's reduced when you consider that he will be the same guy at the end of the contract as they beginning. He's only 20 years old.
It's Top 10 in the league. Guaranteed to an unproven rookie before he's taken his first snap. Nothing at all "reduced" about it.
When guys like Lynch, Peterson, Murray, Charles, and Bell get their huge contracts, it's always about the end of the contract and how much money you have to eat.
And meanwhile, we'll have a guy who's done nothing at the NFL level right up there in the top 10 with the proven 'big boys' of the league.
Dallas won't have to eat the end of Elliott's contract. They'll have to just give him another one. YOU GET FIVE PRIME YEARS.
Five? Seriously? I guess you failed to include that huge jump in cost for that 5th year option, even if they chose to exercise it.
The fact is that you can get four prime years from any running back you take anywhere. To say nothing of the investment already made in McFadden and Morris.
Another fact is that next year's running back class is set to become the best one in years. Ezekiel Elliott would be 'another running back' in that class.
That's why he and all of the other juniors jumped to get into this one, avoiding a much richer draft class at the position. You draft this guy and you're out of the best running back class in years.