Twitter: Zeke's exit may need to happen sooner than later

[Bobhaze]

Several Dallas area sports radio guys (Bob Sturm and Jake Kemp specifically) have been chatting quite a bit lately about the Cowboys cutting Zeke at the end of this season, and just taking the cap hit now. Before everyone screams “Can’t do it!”, look at the details of Zeke’s contract as lined out on Spotrac.com: https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/dallas-cowboys/ezekiel-elliott-18952/

I would argue that if this team’s is going to get better faster, we need to get rid of Zeke and his 3.8 ypc and 60 something yards a game, and draft a good young RB out of college with a mid round pick (and a rookie contract) to tandem with Pollard. Cut Zeke as a post June 1 cut, unless some other team is willing to trade for him (which won’t happen).

Here are the reasons:

• Keeping Zeke and the big contract is not the future. It’s the past. Sure it would give us some dead money to deal with but his signing was a mistake to begin with. Cut him at the end of the season and deal with the mistake instead of prolonging it. If this team is rebuilding, you have to suffer some to get better.
• His production continues to drop every year. Sure he hasn’t had a good line this year, but his per game yardage and per carry yards have continued to decline year after year.
  
• He’s lost his dynamic playmaking ability. He hasn’t had a run over 40 yards since his rookie year. Compare that to Derrick Henry who has had 9 runs over 40 yards since his rookie year. Two over 90 yards. Zeke may have taken too much punishment or had too big a load, but whatever the reason, he’s not that special anymore.

I know this will not be a popular opinion. And I know the dead money issue is real. But this team’s future is going to be all about drafting younger, cheaper talent, not keeping declining stars with big contracts. This team is not a player or two away from being relevant.

And for fans who think this would be stupid, I understand that argument. Maybe. But don’t worry. Because this front office won’t make bold moves like this because they are still buried in the delusion that “this roster is close” to being really good. No it isn’t. And won’t be until they recognize it needs a complete overhaul.

 

[Cmac]

More logical than cutting Zeke might be to shut him down for the rest of the season. Save the wear and tear on his body and allow him to further heal up from his battle with Covid.

Might be the reasonable thing to do....if Nooch and below average QB play poses no threat. Run Pollard in the ground.....let's see. But this franchise is dysfunctional to do the right thing.

 

[CanadianCowboysFan]

More logical than cutting Zeke might be to shut him down for the rest of the season. Save the wear and tear on his body and allow him to further heal up from his battle with Covid.

he didn't really have a battle iirc

 

[stilltheguru]

Didnt know that. Damn with that being said I dont see how he stays.

 

[superonyx]

How is taking the dead money hit when you need to pay Dak and rebuild both the entire Defense and offensive Line a smart idea?
With a possible lower cap its even worse.
using your draft picks to plug holes you just created so you could hurt your salary cap makes it one of the worst decisions I have ever heard.

All the reasons listed for why are without logic.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

More logical than cutting Zeke might be to shut him down for the rest of the season. Save the wear and tear on his body and allow him to further heal up from his battle with Covid.

I think this would be better. Shut him and everyone else down that have health concerns for the season, and give critical game time minutes to those who need game time development. See who is worth keeping next season, and who needs to be moved on from with a fresh and healthy team.

 

[movaughn88]

It was always a 3 year deal - let's see how the draft falls but I am okay with having him one more year as a solid (not great) back who's good in pass pro. Yes he is underperforming the contract, but the FO gambled and lost.

After next year there are reasonable outs for zeke, jaylon, and coop. I think you keep them next year unless there are locker room issues or they want to make a statement. A coop trade is possible but doubt we get much in return. We can draft defense in 2021, and structure any FA signings around the 2022 money freed up.

 

[erod]

Breaks no tackles. Outruns nobody.

 

[EST_1986]

Breaks no tackles. Outruns nobody.

and fumbles and drops passes like nobody else

 

[Chuck 54]

I read somewhere that while there would be dead money, we would still save 12 million on the cap by releasing him at whatever point the article referenced. Find another RB for peanuts and use that money elsewhere. Zeke will be productive when the OL is back together, but he will never be worth that contract.

 

[Bobhaze]

How is taking the dead money hit when you need to pay Dak and rebuild both the entire Defense and offensive Line a smart idea?
With a possible lower cap its even worse.
using your draft picks to plug holes you just created so you could hurt your salary cap makes it one of the worst decisions I have ever heard.

All the reasons listed for why are without logic.

Here are some teams that have recently cut big contracts and taken the dead money hit.

• The chiefs- cut Eric Berry and his big contract in 2018, taking a $8 mil cap hit.
• The Vikings cut Stefan Diggs, taking a $9 mil cap hit.
• The Rams- cut Todd Gurley and took an $11 million cap hit.

There are more than I have time to list. I understand why you say this is “illogical” for cap reasons. But it was an illogical contract to begin with.

 

[ClappingCarrot]

Rams did it with Gurley once they realized what they had done.

And Gurley was actually producing.

 

[Williamsboys]

Take Amari Cooper with you. Gallup, Cee Dee Lamb, Schultz and Pollard are a nice young core on offense..

 

[Bobhaze]

Take Amari Cooper with you. Gallup, Cee Dee Lamb, Schultz and Pollard are a nice young core on offense..

The Cooper deal was another mistake. Is he an excellent WR? Sure. Does his presence on this team make it a contender? Even with Dak? No. Jerry has always overvalued WRs.

I find it interesting that most of the really consistently good franchises rarely ever put a lot of cap space into WRs. Look at Balt- won two SBs in two decades without putting a ton of cap space on WRs. If we as a franchise want to study teams that consistently draft well and manage their cap well, look at Balt and Pitts.

 

[thunderpimp91]

The cap situation of this team is nothing to take lightly. They have to clear cap space especially if they plan to keep dak. Tagging him alone puts them about 10 million over for next year.

if you really save 12 million by cutting zeke I’m not sure how you don’t do it.

 

[RonnieT24]

he didn't really have a battle iirc

Well that's kind of the point.. Even though he recovered in a few days we know the disease compromises the respiratory system. Guess what dictates how well you can condition? Yep.. the respiratory system. Zeke could have trained as hard as he always has and not achieved the same results because of it. And the scary part is that he would have had no way of knowing. He could have run until he puked, felt like he had a good workout but never knowing that he was not building that conditioning base he was accustomed to having. The disease also weakens those who contract it. Again.. he might have felt "a little sluggish" all offseason but without knowledge of what was going on with his body he probably chalked it up to not being able to train at the team facility and figured it would all come back to normal once he did. Obviously it's all speculation but to pretend it was just a two week disease and everything went back to 100% normal is a mistake .. I think we are seeing that with a lot of the guys who have gotten it during the season. Including the guys in the college ranks.. Some of whom have actually decided to shut it down for the season after not feeling completely right after..

 

[CATCH17]

Oh I’m so shocked that signing Zeke to a long term deal 2 years before we had to isn’t working out....

He had alllll that leverage though.. There is no way we could’ve gone 8-8 or 2-6 without him.

Meanwhile in Miami The Dolphins play good defense when Byron Jones is on the field for them and have been terrible when he is off of it.


We need defense! Don’t sign Byron though!

 

[pancakeman]

I think this would be better. Shut him and everyone else down that have health concerns for the season, and give critical game time minutes to those who need game time development. See who is worth keeping next season, and who needs to be moved on from with a fresh and healthy team.

Think of it as the preseason we never had.

 

[stilltheguru]

Rams did it with Gurley once they realized what they had done.

And Gurley was actually producing.

Not really. He had 857 yards his last year in la

 

[Gaede]

Zeke has fallen off hard. I don't think it's physical though. I think his head is not right for whatever reason, which gives me hope that he can turn it around. That said, he is not worth the money he's being paid so...