Should Cowboys have paid Zeke?

[Future]

I understand but indirectly we made the choice to sign Zeke. Which in effect leaves someone out of the picture.

We can come up with all different scenarios to justify. Ultimately it’s a fair argument we shouldn’t have caved in to Zeke.

No, it doesn't leave someone else out of the picture. It doesn't. The cap has gone WAY up since he signed.

They didn't cave - they paid market rate for him. That's how the NFL works.

 

[MarcusRock]

Uh oh. A hindsight thread for folks to proclaim their "outrage." Why not go the route of Taco-TJ Watt again? That's always a hit. Oh, right, Zeke had a bad game so strike while the iron's hot. Good work.

 

[charron]

I wouldn't normally draft a back at 4 but given his importance and production for the 1st 3 years nearly winning the rushing tittle in all 3 was worth it. Extending him way too early was not and he isn't worth the cap hit now. I like him as a player but not at his current salary.

 

[Diehardblues]

No, it doesn't leave someone else out of the picture. It doesn't. The cap has gone WAY up since he signed.

They didn't cave - they paid market rate for him. That's how the NFL works.

Obviously you believe in signing Zeke. But it’s not looking like it was a wise investment. We are allowed as fans to second guess the decision now.

 

[Sydla]

Uh oh. A hindsight thread for folks to proclaim their "outrage." Why not go the route of Taco-TJ Watt again? That's always a hit. Oh, right, Zeke had a bad game so strike while the iron's hot. Good work.

LOL. For many of us, it's not hindsight. In fact, some of us were against drafting him right from the start.

And it's not been one game. Elliott hasn't been an elite back for a few years now. He's never been explosive since his rookie year. His efficiency has gone down since his rookie year. That's just the reality some of you can't bring yourselves to admit.

 

[Diehardblues]

LOL. For many of us, it's not hindsight. In fact, some of us were against drafting him right from the start.

And it's not been one game. Elliott hasn't been an elite back for a few years now. He's never been explosive since his rookie year. His efficiency has gone down since his rookie year. That's just the reality some of you can't bring yourselves to admit.

Yep

And some of us were against caving in to his threat last year of holding out.

 

[LACowboysFan1]

Based on what he'd done on the field, at the time they got him the contract, yes. He wasn't just good, he was exceptional.

McCaffery now makes more than Zeke per year, $16 mil vs $15 mil. So the Panthers were stupid to pay him? Derrick Henry has a $12.5 mil per contract, were the Titans stupid to pay him?

You pay top players top money. Now do we see that Zeke isn't that great with a less than stellar line? Maybe, the line isn't just mediocre, it's terrible. Any back needs at least some holes to do well, Zeke has defenders all over him as soon as he gets to the line most of the time, if not for his size and power he'd do worse than he is. And teams can focus on stripping the ball since the Dallas defense will let their team score near 40 pts a game. Don't have to worry about his breaking a long run, they'll just immediately score themselves.

Saying Zeke shouldn't have been signed is 20-20 hindsight for most, yes some did say don't pay him, but there were a minority, most were glad to keep him.

He's young, strong, hasn't missed a game due to injury, and does do well (except for the recent fumbles) when he gets a chance. Cowboys are stuck with him for a couple more years, which I'm fine with, again based on prior years, if the line can get better I fully expect Zeke to get back to his 2016-18 form, or at least close to it, and by that time his $15 million won't be such a huge part of the cap...

 

[Future]

Obviously you believe in signing Zeke. But it’s not looking like it was a wise investment. We are allowed as fans to second guess the decision now.

No, I don't, but that's because I don't believe in drafting him in the first place. The contract itself isn't problematic.

 

[Diehardblues]

No, I don't, but that's because I don't believe in drafting him in the first place. The contract itself isn't problematic.

But the investment is. That could have been better spent elsewhere. You may not agree but it’s arguable.

 

[CowboyRoy]

If you draft a player #4 overall, you have to give them a second contract unless they are a bust, so yes, they had to pay him.

The problem is drafting a RB at #4 overall.

So double down on your mistake? OUCH!!!! I would never have done that.

Bottom line is that the clear move at the time when Zeke was holding out was to trade him. At the time, with 2 years left on his rookie deal, someone would have given us at least a first and 2nd in the following draft.

The money saved on the salary and the first and 2nd round could have gone right into helping rebuild the defense.

 

[MyFairLady]

At this point the whole Zeke experiment is looking like a complete and utter disaster. We hitched our wagon to a mental midget who is melting down faster than ice cream in the Sahara.

 

[CowboyRoy]

It’s a reminder of how little attention Cowboys management was paying to the NFL landscape in the summer of 2019 when they honored Elliott’s holdout and made him the highest-paid back in the league.

The last thing any NFL team ever wants is the highest-paid back on its payroll, which is why Zeke has no trade value whatsoever. Nobody is looking to add a huge salary cap hit at the running back position for 2021 with a declining player who now can’t stop fumbling along with not being able to break runs of any consequence.

Yet here the Cowboys are because the Joneses got scared and were afraid of what might happen if they opened the 2019 season without Zeke.

The Cowboys are a franchise out of step, and now it’s running out of having anything on offense beyond some top-notch receivers and a running back whose history and contract far exceed his present value.

As time passed and Prescott developed and the Cowboys added Amari Cooper and then CeeDee Lamb, this became Dak’s offense. Elliott’s importance diminished on an almost weekly basis. He became a luxury item , a $90 million player with zero trade value.

You have always been a huge fan of Zeke and defended his big new contract. You are now now saying you were wrong about that?

 

[G2]

Yes you can. Again, what you guys are advocating here is that because we made a mistake in 2016 using the 4th pick on a TB, we need to make another mistake and sign him to a long term deal that made him the highest paid TB in football?

Yeah that doesn't seem like a good way to run a franchise.

You're saying it was a mistake.

 

[Diehardblues]

So double down on your mistake? OUCH!!!! I would never have done that.

Bottom line is that the clear move at the time when Zeke was holding out was to trade him. At the time, with 2 years left on his rookie deal, someone would have given us at least a first and 2nd in the following draft.

The money saved on the salary and the first and 2nd round could have gone right into helping rebuild the defense.

Boom.. this^^^^^^

 

[G2]

The fact we didn’t take advantage of Dak and Zeke in their Rookie contracts will go down as this ownerships biggest bundle this era.

That's the real mistake.

 

[Diehardblues]

You have always been a huge fan of Zeke and defended his big new contract. You are now now saying you were wrong about that?

I felt Zeke was a needed prop for Dak at the time. I think Dak has grown beyond that need.

And I believe the investment could be better spent elsewhere. Like shoring up the defense.

Situations often evolve.

And with resigning Cooper as well my stance is we cant afford to pay Dak, Zeke and Cooper without effects throughout like on defense.

After drafting Lamb I’m not sure we should have signed Coop either.

 

[G2]

Uh oh. A hindsight thread for folks to proclaim their "outrage." Why not go the route of Taco-TJ Watt again? That's always a hit. Oh, right, Zeke had a bad game so strike while the iron's hot. Good work.

This isn't the season I would use as a barometer. He's played at an elite level every year.

 

[blueblood70]

It’s a reminder of how little attention Cowboys management was paying to the NFL landscape in the summer of 2019 when they honored Elliott’s holdout and made him the highest-paid back in the league.

The last thing any NFL team ever wants is the highest-paid back on its payroll, which is why Zeke has no trade value whatsoever. Nobody is looking to add a huge salary cap hit at the running back position for 2021 with a declining player who now can’t stop fumbling along with not being able to break runs of any consequence.

Yet here the Cowboys are because the Joneses got scared and were afraid of what might happen if they opened the 2019 season without Zeke.

The Cowboys are a franchise out of step, and now it’s running out of having anything on offense beyond some top-notch receivers and a running back whose history and contract far exceed his present value.

As time passed and Prescott developed and the Cowboys added Amari Cooper and then CeeDee Lamb, this became Dak’s offense. Elliott’s importance diminished on an almost weekly basis. He became a luxury item , a $90 million player with zero trade value.

who cares you cant change the past the what if train is for losers'..Zekes deal is somehow holding up Daks teams?


Zeke not the issue, his fumbles are bad but Daks has had issues with fumbling before he has 34 for his career 40ints 74

Zekes teams went to the playoffs , Daks teams are now 4-8 since last season midway point..and the best game we won in that stretch was the rams game i remember us running for the tune of 250+ Dak wasn't needed , it was a run based Game plan and we bet team with winning record..hmmm

against tell me how DAKS TEAMS are performing?? so the coaches decided to SHIFT indentity's and put up passing stats and not utilize better run game and thats zekes fault somehow,, hes not declining , the way he used is declining and hes had some issues with fumbling but tell me how this new Daks team identity is performing?

1-3 start? 8-8 ;t year but 3-5 to finish the season daks teams have failed remember when zeke was suspended 9-7 that was Daks team..last two years so these are daks teams and zekes contract somehow has changed that even thought they loaded up daks WR core full bore to make it Dak friendly and so far , its working out great


3-5 to finish last year and 1-3 to start this year..Dak made 31mil this season for a 1-3 start now on the sideline. Wow what an investment.

not knocking Dak but you brought it up, its Daks teams .. wow glad they are going to pay dak now because his teams are comic up daisy's,.!!!! lmao

so Zekes contract is responsible for what? hate posts maybe something for you to gripe about?

its the Coaches issues Kellen moore and the staff decided instead of finding more balance and go from a run heavy team with Zeke etc , go to pass happy and its failing.. its not zekes fault the Coaching staff cant utilize him and find a better run scheme to compliment dak and the pass game..

its like they decided they would switch from using their right hand to their left but forgot they would function better with two hands as most of us do,..not using both hands is this teams issue and the brain ie the coaching staff has concussion because they cant figure out how to utilize both..

if you cant figure out this is more of coaching problem then a Zeke issue, that BTW cant be changed, well you are the issue.. Fans trying to signal out play and his deal and his draft status when it changes NOTHING...

we are losing more now that daks stats have gone up then when we utilized zekes more efficiently..

 

[Diehardblues]

who cares you cant change the past the what if train is for losers'..Zekes deal is somehow holding up Daks teams?


Zeke not the issue, his fumbles are bad but Daks has had issues with fumbling before he has 34 for his career 40ints 74

Zekes teams went to the playoffs , Daks teams are now 4-8 since last season midway point..and the best game we won in that stretch was the rams game i remember us running for the tune of 250+ Dak wasn't needed , it was a run based Game plan and we bet team with winning record..hmmm

against tell me how DAKS TEAMS are performing?? so the coaches decided to SHIFT indentity's and put up passing stats and not utilize better run game and thats zekes fault somehow,, hes not declining , the way he used is declining and hes had some issues with fumbling but tell me how this new Daks team identity is performing?

1-3 start? 8-8 ;t year but 3-5 to finish the season daks teams have failed remember when zeke was suspended 9-7 that was Daks team..last two years so these are daks teams and zekes contract somehow has changed that even thought they loaded up daks WR core full bore to make it Dak friendly and so far , its working out great


3-5 to finish last year and 1-3 to start this year..Dak made 31mil this season for a 1-3 start now on the sideline. Wow what an investment.

not knocking Dak but you brought it up, its Daks teams .. wow glad they are going to pay dak now because his teams are comic up daisy's,.!!!! lmao

so Zekes contract is responsible for what? hate posts maybe something for you to gripe about?

its the Coaches issues Kellen moore and the staff decided instead of finding more balance and go from a run heavy team with Zeke etc , go to pass happy and its failing.. its not zekes fault the Coaching staff cant utilize him and find a better run scheme to compliment dak and the pass game..

its like they decided they would switch from using their right hand to their left but forgot they would function better with two hands as most of us do,..not using both hands is this teams issue and the brain ie the coaching staff has concussion because they cant figure out how to utilize both..

if you cant figure out this is more of coaching problem then a Zeke issue, that BTW cant be changed, well you are the issue.. Fans trying to signal out play and his deal and his draft status when it changes NOTHING...

we are losing more now that daks stats have gone up then when we utilized zekes more efficiently..

No, we can’t change the past but as fans we certainly can second guess after the fact.

 

[Ring6]

seek Marcus Mosher on twitter for some interesting and possibly convincing opinion on this topic.