Honestly, I love it. In a league where pay for performance is the name of the game, I'll take a big contract halfway through a rookie contract every damn day.
Prorate a SB over the last 2 years of a rookie contract and end up with a contract that is pay-for-play when a player is 29 or 30? Count me in!
I really think the handling of Zeke's contract should be the standard. Not the holdout part, but just extend the guy after 2 or 3 years, if they are worth it. Don't sit around for the final year or option year. If they don't agree, then you let them play it out, franchise them once, and then move on. Suck up all the good years they have. 6 years of Zeke is still worth his draft position if the cost minimized due to the rookie contract structuring.
People (me included) view draft picks as sacred cows. Start viewing them as low-cost free agents up-front. Zeke signed a rookie deal in 2016 for $16M. He's now signed through 2026 and if Dallas cuts him after the 2024 offseason, he'll have been a 9-year, $94M player, and will have no dead money on the books. That seems like a win to me.
His contract may ultimately be one of the best contracts the Jones' ever signed. Premiere player who can be cut at the age of 28 or 29 for damn near nothing in terms of dead cap space. How is that not a Godsend?