Zeke smart for holding out last year

aria said:

Can you name me any other player that has held out with two years left AND demanded to be paid the highest for their position? I’ll even accept the first part of the question as a win for you.

So do you think every player that is a starting rookie should hold out in case they’re injured?

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Chris Johnson
Drafted 2008 in the 1st Round by Tennessee at #24. Signed a 5-year, $12M contract ($7M Guaranteed)
Held out the start of 2011 and wound up with a 4-year $53M extension ($30M Guaranteed) making him the highest paid running back in history to that point.

What do I win?

If a team relies on a player they way we've done Zeke, they should use what they can to get what they want. Especially for what they put their bodies through.

Hadenough said:

Once Zeke saw how defenses were focusing on him and Dak couldnt take the pressure off he said ****** I want my money for carrying Dak.

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Both Coop and Zeke we're overpaid due to shortcomings of our QB.

Jumbo075 said:

With Todd Gurley getting cut, and Melvin Gordon getting a much lower contract, Zeke was dang smart to hold out last season, instead of waiting for this year.

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Very smart, imo.

MarcusRock said:

Chris Johnson
Drafted 2008 in the 1st Round by Tennessee at #24. Signed a 5-year, $12M contract ($7M Guaranteed)
Held out the start of 2011 and wound up with a 4-year $53M extension ($30M Guaranteed) making him the highest paid running back in history to that point.

What do I win?

If a team relies on a player they way we've done Zeke, they should use what they can to get what they want. Especially for what they put their bodies through.

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Do I really need to go through every RB’s contract to prove a point which you just helped me do?

Let’s start with your example. How many Super Bowls did Johnson win being the highest paid running back in history? How many highest paid running backs in history have won Super Bowls?

Who are you cheering for, Zeke or the Cowboys? JJ is a billionaire and I have zero sympathy for him nor do I have sympathy for a punk diva purse carrying bully that is holding back my favorite team from winning a Super Bowl so he can spend an extra 10 million on Louis Vuitton purses.

It’s nice to know there’s people out there that support mouth breathing primates making an extra 10 million, on top of their 50 million, over the Cowboys winning a Super Bowl. In 5 hears you guys can brag about having the league leading rusher while NE or Philthy are dusting off their Lombardi due to a RB no one remembers.

acr731 said:

Smart? Not hardly. He's portrayed himself as a greedy, self centered punk.

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But also: when a player doesn't hold out and does his job while he patiently waits to get paid until after their rookie contract runs out, the fans will also hate them and call them greedy if they've made it through their rookie contract with enough value to command big money.

A player wants to tear up his rookie contract and sign a new, big deal? He's greedy. A player honors his rookie contract rather than sign an early extension, playing his way to free agency? He's greedy.

Bottom line: fans will always hate them and think they're greedy unless they're underpaid and being more fully exploited.

aria said:

It’s nice to know there’s people out there that support mouth breathing primates making an extra 10 million

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Maybe cool it on calling players monkeys?

aria said:

Do I really need to go through every RB’s contract to prove a point which you just helped me do?

Let’s start with your example. How many Super Bowls did Johnson win being the highest paid running back in history? How many highest paid running backs in history have won Super Bowls?

Who are you cheering for, Zeke or the Cowboys? JJ is a billionaire and I have zero sympathy for him nor do I have sympathy for a punk diva purse carrying bully that is holding back my favorite team from winning a Super Bowl so he can spend an extra 10 million on Louis Vuitton purses.

It’s nice to know there’s people out there that support mouth breathing primates making an extra 10 million, on top of their 50 million, over the Cowboys winning a Super Bowl. In 5 hears you guys can brag about having the league leading rusher while NE or Philthy are dusting off their Lombardi due to a RB no one remembers.

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Came across a little personal, nothing against you Rock, just my usual rant.

SSoup said:

Maybe cool it on calling players monkeys?

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Yeah, pretty sure I never said monkey’s, can you quote me on that?

Would it make you feel better if I called him a leech? a piece of trash? whale feces? a bully? a punk? a toddler? How about a stick grinding, cave dwelling moron that can’t think logically so he resorts to violence? a dolt? a simpleton?

Primate was actually too complimentary because primates are intelligent, moreso than myself (as are most animals) and certainly smarter than Ewoks (pssst I HATE Star Wars and have never even watched an entire movie, but I know what Ewoks look like and I don’t trust them).

You got me thinking, aren’t Ewoks the good guys? They’re supposed to be friendly, right? I think I should stop referring to #21 as an Ewok, I’ll have to think of something else.

aria said:

Do I really need to go through every RB’s contract to prove a point which you just helped me do?

Let’s start with your example. How many Super Bowls did Johnson win being the highest paid running back in history? How many highest paid running backs in history have won Super Bowls?

Who are you cheering for, Zeke or the Cowboys? JJ is a billionaire and I have zero sympathy for him nor do I have sympathy for a punk diva purse carrying bully that is holding back my favorite team from winning a Super Bowl so he can spend an extra 10 million on Louis Vuitton purses.

It’s nice to know there’s people out there that support mouth breathing primates making an extra 10 million, on top of their 50 million, over the Cowboys winning a Super Bowl. In 5 hears you guys can brag about having the league leading rusher while NE or Philthy are dusting off their Lombardi due to a RB no one remembers.

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Yes, it is Zeke's fault the Cowboys have not won in 25 years. You are a primate that lacks the ability to mouth breathe, hindering oxygen to the brain.

Jumbo075 said:

With Todd Gurley getting cut, and Melvin Gordon getting a much lower contract, Zeke was dang smart to hold out last season, instead of waiting for this year.

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And Jerry was stupid to give in. RBs are not worth that type of money in the salary cap era. The data is clear on this. Just another example of Jerry’s ineptitude.

Kaiser said:

Hate is directly correlated with salary. I can give you a billion examples.

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Whoa! Hold everything! DON'T mention the word "BILLION" in a "Zeke" thread about salaries and holding out.

Zeke smart....Cowboys stupid.

PAPPYDOG said:

Both Coop and Zeke we're overpaid due to shortcomings of our QB.

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I feel WRs are way over paid and RBs are getting screwed over.

aria said:

Do I really need to go through every RB’s contract to prove a point which you just helped me do?

Let’s start with your example. How many Super Bowls did Johnson win being the highest paid running back in history? How many highest paid running backs in history have won Super Bowls?

Who are you cheering for, Zeke or the Cowboys? JJ is a billionaire and I have zero sympathy for him nor do I have sympathy for a punk diva purse carrying bully that is holding back my favorite team from winning a Super Bowl so he can spend an extra 10 million on Louis Vuitton purses.

It’s nice to know there’s people out there that support mouth breathing primates making an extra 10 million, on top of their 50 million, over the Cowboys winning a Super Bowl. In 5 hears you guys can brag about having the league leading rusher while NE or Philthy are dusting off their Lombardi due to a RB no one remembers.

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Don't know what point you were trying to have with me but you asked me to find "any other player" who held out with 2 years remaining on their contract and asked to be highest paid as more dirt to have against Zeke for doing something unprecedented when it's just actually normal NFL business. I did one better and found a running back who did it. So you certainly had no point there and hopefully won't use that in your arsenal against Zeke again.

The other part of your post is the same tired argument: "When has the highest paid X position ever won a Super Bowl?" I could say the same about a punter, CB, or safety if we're talking about X player that "shouldn't be paid."

I absolutely support players in negotiations because I remember when owners paid them peanuts and reaped the vast majority of benefits and had to be forced into sharing fairly with the stars of the show. So why would a player ever trust an owner and not try to get all they can out of them? They're just doing what owners did. That being said, there are still negotiations and no one "makes" an owner pay anything. If you style your offense as a run-first team, well then you probably should pay your runner. What a player is worth is up to owners to decide, not piker fans who have their egos hurt at people they look down on out-earning them many times over. So they can hate players all they want but I'm sure players wipe their tears with $20 bills at night. I know I would.

aria said:

Came across a little personal, nothing against you Rock, just my usual rant.

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No offense taken. It's akin to conspiracy fans whining about how we're not getting holding calls but not knowing about the exceptions for double teams or when a defender uses a rip move but then doubling down with rage when I show those rules to them. I'm used to it (and it entertains me).

The only reason Zeke was "overpaid" was because the previous coaching staff was incapably of getting all out of him that they could have. Zeke should have at least 1500 yards rushing, 500 yards receiving and 20 total TD EVERY YEAR! He is the best football player we have on either side of the ball. People still mad at him because he didn't chase Talib after Dak threw that stupid *** interception have never tried extreme physical exertion at that altitude. You eventually reach a point where your lungs simply cannot take in enough oxygen to send to your muscle to even make them move. I knew exactly what Zeke was feeling at that moment. because I've been there. Throw in the fact that we was a 22 year old kid dealing Roger Goodell's witchhunt and I'm willing to forgive him for that one. He lays it on the line for this team more than any other player on the roster. I was fine with paying him because it starts the "clock" that much sooner. If Zeke is the generational talent who is going to be a very good player into his 30's, you don't want him hitting the open market at 25.

If the Cowboys waited until after the 5th year option and Zeke was still playing at an elite level the price will have gone up another 2 million a year over what it is now. The 5th year option price was going to cost about what they are paying him with a worse cap hit. If he balls out in that 5th year the price would go even higher. OR you have to make an example of your cornerstone player by letting him walk to another team. That's a bad look and it sends a bad message to potential free agents as well as to the rest of the roster. "Give this team everything you have and just get thrown out like trash.." is not a good sales pitch. If Zeke has two more years like the last one then the Cowboys will have gotten three superb years out of the deal and the contract will have been well earned IMHO. Even if he begins to decline in 2022 I don't think it will be so pronounced that he will be holding the offense back and the contract is structured such that the Cowboys can get out from under it relatively cheaply at that point.

The key to getting value out of the Zeke contract is simple.. Use him... He's a horse.. playing behind an o-line of horses. You know what you do with horses? You ride 'em. This team needs to ride its horses. Period.

Jumbo075 said:

With Todd Gurley getting cut, and Melvin Gordon getting a much lower contract, Zeke was dang smart to hold out last season, instead of waiting for this year.

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I doubt very much he held out because he was dang smart.

MarcusRock said:

Don't know what point you were trying to have with me but you asked me to find "any other player" who held out with 2 years remaining on their contract and asked to be highest paid as more dirt to have against Zeke for doing something unprecedented when it's just actually normal NFL business. I did one better and found a running back who did it. So you certainly had no point there and hopefully won't use that in your arsenal against Zeke again.

The other part of your post is the same tired argument: "When has the highest paid X position ever won a Super Bowl?" I could say the same about a punter, CB, or safety if we're talking about X player that "shouldn't be paid."

I absolutely support players in negotiations because I remember when owners paid them peanuts and reaped the vast majority of benefits and had to be forced into sharing fairly with the stars of the show. So why would a player ever trust an owner and not try to get all they can out of them? They're just doing what owners did. That being said, there are still negotiations and no one "makes" an owner pay anything. If you style your offense as a run-first team, well then you probably should pay your runner. What a player is worth is up to owners to decide, not piker fans who have their egos hurt at people they look down on out-earning them many times over. So they can hate players all they want but I'm sure players wipe their tears with $20 bills at night. I know I would.

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So to sum it up you’re happy Zeke got paid so he can trip balls and carry fancy purses while the Cowboys suck hind tit because owners/GM’s are morons. Good for you and good for Zeke.

TheRomoSexual said:

I really don't get the hate this board has for Zeke. He was second last year among RBs in APY and averaged 4.5 yards a carry. He wasn't the problem.

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zeke regressed last year and has not shown any burst or game changing plays against worth opponents. Plus he disappeared in the playoff loss to the rams in 2018. so he is not a great back by any stretch,

MyFairLady said:

Exactly. IMHO any true Cowboy fans would view this as an example of the stupidity of the front office, not an example of the intelligence of a player. And if it is an example of the intelligence of a player than it is like saying that player screwed us over good. Does it make people happy when players screw over the Cowboys? I just don't get it.

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Fans and the front office views of players contracts usually align but the players are on their own. The fo and fans want to get the best players at the lowest cost to field the best team this is good in theory if yall can just get the players to want to play at the lowest salaries then everything would be peachy.

I just look at leverage and whoever has it should use it, if a player has a bad year the the yeam should use it to make the player take a pay cut or get cut. If a player has leverage then he has the right to use it, now that doesnt mean he'll get what he wants but he does have the right to try. Zeke had the leverage my hats off to him and his agent because the cowboys were going to run him into the ground and the discard him if he had waited until his contract was up. He did the right thing for himself and he has to because the front office and the fans are not.