The Cowboys made their own bed with this Ezekiel Elliot hold out situation. Market-setting contract negotiations come with the territory when you draft a running back No. 4 overall — and then proceed to build your entire team around that player. 

Elliot's fifth-year player option will pay him less than $4M in cash this season, and if all he wants is more than the 4-year, $60M deal the Rams gave Todd Gurley, what's taking Jerry and the Cowboys so long? 

A fresh Zeke would be great come playoff time — but the Cowboys definitely need their best player if they're getting there. 

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The 60 Second Sports Podcast is written and produced by Ryan O'Leary. Connect with Ryan on Twitter: @RyanOLearySMG

US women's soccer star Carli Lloyd recently told Sports Illustrated that she has "definitely gotten inquiries" from NFL teams after a video of her crushing a 55-yard field goal dead center went viral. 

Some players might laugh it off ... but this is a serious story. An NFL team will sign a female kicker one day. Lloyd, who probably has one of the strongest female legs in the world, would be a logical first.

Everyone's got a take on Andrew Luck's stunning retirement at the age of 29. That's because there's plenty of blame on both the Colts and Luck for how this bizarre announcement went down.

The PGA Tour created a system that ensures the Tour Championship winner also hoists the points-based FedEx Cup Trophy, and added a whopping $15M first prize. The wrinkle? Justin Thomas started the finale at East Lake with a 2-stroke lead on the field. Rory McIlroy started 5 shots back. 

The PGA was looking for a hole-in-one with this new system. What they got ought to be a one-and-done.

The Houston Astros didn't only pull off the whopper — acquiring D-backs ace Zack Greinke for a package of four prospects — they wheeled three deals right at the horn, and really blew their fellow World Series contenders out of the water. 

The MLB arm's race, the Astros are now a cut above the Dodgers, Yankees ... and everyone else. 

The 60-Second Sports Podcast is written and produced by Ryan O'Leary. Connect with Ryan on Twitter: @RyanOLearySMG

LeBron James is catching mad flak right now for viral videos of him ... losing his mind during his 14-year-old son's recent AAU tournament in Vegas! 

The 60 Second Sports podcast is written and produced by Ryan O'Leary. Connect with Ryan on Twitter: @RyanOLearySMG

Stevie Wilkerson, a reserve outfielder for the Baltimore Orioles, became the first position player to log a save since it became an official stat in 1969. Even better — he was throwing fastballs in the mid-50s. 

But let's not kid ourselves ... this 6 hour, 19 minute game was another bad night for the future of baseball, which has seen viewership fall by another 4 percent this year.

The NFL returns to relevance this week. Training camps are kicking off. Preseason games begin on August 1. Let's explore three of the league's top storylines. 

The 60 Second Sports podcast is written and produced by Ryan O'Leary. Connect with Ryan on Twitter: @RyanOLearySMG

Northern Ireland had rallied around native sons Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell as its nation prepared to host its first Open in almost seven decades. 

That it gave Shane Lowry — a native of Ireland — the same treatment during his brilliant performance at Royal Portrush was one of those special sports moments we only see so often.

The 50th World Series of Poker crowned its champion: Germany's Hossein Ensan. He played around 80 hours of poker over 11 days, and won himself not only the $10 million top prize, but a diamond encrusted gold bracelet worth more than any other sports prize out there. 

This year's tournament drew a field of 8,569, the second largest in its history. And thanks to ESPN's wall-to-wall TV coverage, every guy or gal with a TV, a deck of cards and a bank account can honestly dream they have a chance.