Ezekiel Elliott contract isn't bad at all

fivetwos said:

I dont care WHAT his numbers look like.

Watch the games. His arrow is headed downward, and at the RB position, the decline is almost unbelievable.

Dudes like Shawn Alexander and Larry Johnson, just off the top of my head, were at the top of every fantasy draft, then two years later an afterthought at best.

So, point out all Elliots numbers recently you like, I KNOW where he is headed, and will NOT be on this team for 15M per come 2022 no matter what.

Deal with it.

He was the right pick at the time but the better part of his career was wasted by Jerry with his hand picked puppet experiment. Is what it is.

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You mean 2023. He won't be here for the 2023 season and I agree. Remember, his 2022 season is guaranteed on the 5th day of the 2021 season. Which is not yet shown on the dead cap. So he'll be here in 2022. He'll be 28 and unless he's tearing it up I doubt they'll keep him. But who knows? I can't predict the future. I'm just playing the odds.

waldoputty said:

decent numbers would be top 8-12 rb.
that is unfortunately where zeke is heading if his play continue to decline like last season.

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Lol. Zeke will rush for 1400 and 10 plus tds. Goodnight sir

stilltheguru said:

Lol. Zeke will rush for 1400 and 10 plus tds. Goodnight sir

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I was hoping Zeke would be closer to 2k than 1k when we drafted him.

Flamma said:

You mean 2023. He won't be here for the 2023 season and I agree. Remember, his 2022 season is guaranteed on the 5th day of the 2021 season. Which is not yet shown on the dead cap. So he'll be here in 2022. He'll be 28 and unless he's tearing it up I doubt they'll keep him. But who knows? I can't predict the future. I'm just playing the odds.

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The fifth day of the season or the league year?

Sounds strange that his 2022 season would be guaranteed a full year in advance. Not saying you're wrong, but the word on this deal was it was basically a three year situation and that's that.

There has to be a reasonable dead money situation after only year two, and that was never what I recall hearing on this.

If what you're saying is true, it's either a two year or four year thing, because they cant have him for 2021 without having him for 2022 also.

Again not saying you're wrong, but I hope you are.

Flamma said:

You mean 2023. He won't be here for the 2023 season and I agree. Remember, his 2022 season is guaranteed on the 5th day of the 2021 season. Which is not yet shown on the dead cap. So he'll be here in 2022. He'll be 28 and unless he's tearing it up I doubt they'll keep him. But who knows? I can't predict the future. I'm just playing the odds.

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Well you're more right than wrong.

It's the 5th day of the league year, but get this...his 2022 salary becomes guaranteed if they dont cut him by this coming March. 2021 became guaranteed this past March in the same manner.

So, they will need to cut him this coming March if he isnt going to be here in 2022.

When a players salary becomes fully guaranteed 18 months in advance, I don't really see how anyone can claim the deal isnt so bad from the teams perspective.

I dont recall seeing a deal structured that way. I'm running around commending the FO for doing a nice job on these deals. Not that one. Not at all.

Unless he gets himself suspended again, then all guarantees go away. Half a shot there.

Wow. Day ruined lol

fivetwos said:

The fifth day of the season or the league year?

Sounds strange that his 2022 season would be guaranteed a full year in advance. Not saying you're wrong, but the word on this deal was it was basically a three year situation and that's that.

There has to be a reasonable dead money situation after only year two, and that was never what I recall hearing on this.

If what you're saying is true, it's either a two year or four year thing, because they cant have him for 2021 without having him for 2022 also.

Again not saying you're wrong, but I hope you are.

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How would you interpret this? Not only that. But his contract has 50 million plus in guaranteed money. That does include the 2022 season exactly. So he's getting that money whether he's on the team or not.

"2022 salary fully guarantees on the 5th league day of 2021 (injury guaranteed now)"

There is a reasonable dead money situation after year two. 2022 is the second year of his extension. His six year extension starts in 2021.

fivetwos said:

I dont recall seeing a deal structured that way. I'm running around commending the FO for doing a nice job on these deals. Not that one. Not at all.

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As we both already know, guaranteed money is what the player looks for. They chose to give him over 50 million. There's only a few ways to do it, and since they didn't go heavy on signing bonus, that's the alternative. There are a lot of contracts structured that way.

Since they did sign him with two years left on his rookie deal, they probably could have gone higher with the signing bonus. But I guess Jerry didn't want to part with too much all at once.

J12B said:

In my view, Zeke's contract is actually pretty good for the team.

Elliot has a 10.9 million cap hit this year, which he is obviously worth. I think that cap hit is about the same as his 5th year option would have been..

In 2021, #21 has a cap hit of 13.7 million. Granted that is high, but if his play only slightly declines, Zeke will still be worth it.

In 2022, if Zeke's becomes innefective or isn't a RB opposing defenses fear anymore, (or if Pollard becomes the RB1 or we find a diamond in the rough in the 2021 draft) he can be designated as a post-June 1st cut. Doing so, would result in a 4.1 million dead money hit but create 12.4 million in cap savings.

So basically, we have Zeke on the team this year and in 2021. I hope he can reverse the trend of RBs having a short shelf life in recent years, but it is good to know that the front office can release him after the 2021 season he can be released if needed.

(Sorry if this topic seems distasteful given the recent news on Zeke, but just wanted to look at his contract again since it's been almost a year since his deal was done.)

#21

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This is what I always thought as well until Mr Flamma corrected me.

It's an awful deal for the team the way its structured.

Not only is THIS season fully guaranteed, but 2021 is as well.

If they dont cut him by March 2021, 2022 becomes guaranteed also.

So they will need to eat the entire salary for 2021 if they dont want him for 22.

They arent paying him 12 million to not be on the team, so he is definitely here through that season for sure, and theres no way in the world he would restructure.

The entire deal (minus the last two bogus ones) was basically a signing bonus with some spead out in game checks.

I'm stunned and surprised this deal is really like this.

I thought exactly what you did all along, but its structured to where it makes no sense to cut him before March of 2023.

Among the LAST of personalities I'd make all kind of guarantees to, I hope he at least has some dignity as far as what his playing legacy will be and gets himself in shape, and maybe football will be more important than partying. Hey, we can all hope right?

I think his rookie deal was ripped up and we are coming into year two of the six year one he signed last year.

That doesnt matter anyway.

Now that 2021 is fully guaranteed, they cant cut him this coming March, so 2022 becomes fully guaranteed also.

Thats crazy!!

At least 54s deal is not like that. I'm afraid to look at Coopers lol.

Aviano90 said:

I was hoping Zeke would be closer to 2k than 1k when we drafted him.

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Hes not getting 2k with the weapons we have. Thanks

stilltheguru said:

Hes not getting 2k with the weapons we have. Thanks

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I was personally hoping to to worry about playing into late January instead of who has yardage next to their name, but maybe that line of thinking is obsolete.

fivetwos said:

I was personally hoping to to worry about playing into late January instead of who has yardage next to their name, but maybe that line of thinking is obsolete.

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Zeke is only one player

stilltheguru said:

Hes not getting 2k with the weapons we have. Thanks

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You’re welcome. He also isn’t getting it because he has lacked big play ability.

waldoputty said:

actually i think we keep gallup as cooper may be used up by then.
i think that was the thinking behind drafting lamb.
have #1 wr in case cooper's wheels fall off.
cooper contract can be dumped at the same time as gallup comes up for fa
good planning and did not bent over like they did for zeke

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That's a good point about Cooper's age. He is 26 now, will be 28 in a couple of years. Not washed up, but we should expect performance to slide from then on out, if it hadn't already started sliding before that.

But I see Gallup as more of a fallback than a desired outcome. I don't expect him to ever be a strong #1, but we'd have to pay him like a #1. It will be poor value. I'd rather see him go and bring up another guy.

Gallup will be an option in 2 years, but I don't see him as that desirable an option. If Cooper is sliding, probably better to bring up a new WR and dump Cooper when the new guy can take over at #2.

beware_d-ware said:

No doubt Zeke hasn't hit the heights of his 2016 rookie year again, but in 17/18/19 he's looked like the exact same dude all three years. I haven't seen a decline at all there; he's been one of the most consistent players in football.

I will say that I want to see Zeke get less usage in the future. One because I think our passing game is ready to rock, and another because I felt like Garrett wasted far too many plays #EstablishingIt with predictable runs into the teeth of waiting defenses. Run-heavy offenses can still work today: Rams, 49ers, Vikings, etc. But look at who's coordinating those run games: McVay, Shanahan, and Kubiak, all a lot better at scheming them than Garrett. They don't just line up 3 TEs on 1st down and force it over left guard trying to "impose their will".

Zeke was a vital part of Garrett's offense because he could consistently churn out positive yardage on 20 predictable carries every week, but I would love to see Kellen Moore and Mike McCarthy take the offense in a different direction. If that means that Zeke gets a 200/900 stat line instead of a 300/1400 line, so be it.

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I agree about using Zeke less. Or using him more often as a decoy to make other players more productive. That will make *him* more productive per carry as well.

It's harder to see the dropoff from 2017-2019, but whether there was a huge jump in 2017 or a continued slide, where's he's been for the last 3 years hasn't been that great.

2017 our offense was a shambles. Even so, Morris had a 4.76 average, and Zeke 4.1. Shows what we could get with a washed up back. Better ypc than Zeke for the last 3 seasons. Pollard significantly beat Zeke last year too. 5.3 vs 4.5.

It's not entirely apples to apples, but Zeke hasn't clearly beaten out our cheapo options the last 3 years.

Even if Zeke isn't sliding, he's now a good but not great back. The money is locked in, so there's nothing we can do about it.

I think the question may be, much like Dez, what happens if teams conclude that Zeke *isn't* that big a threat? Will Zeke beat them? It's a reasonable question, giving our WRs.

jterrell said:

Imagine believing a scheduled base pay has to equate a future cap hit ....
Or that you should never pay a RB over minimum.
I'm trying to make you less lost and you are fighting it kicking and screaming like a toddler being forced to take Tylenol.

There is this whole area of common sense where things are correct then goofiness like paying Zeke 20m a year in cap hit is fine or we should never pay above minimum for a RB.

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Imagine not realizing that me using Zeke's cap hit rather than base salary was actually being kind to the discussion since his signing bonus is spread over multiple years.

Cowboy Lover said:

Well that is ONE way to "devalue the RB position'!

Can you really just keep drafting a solid NFL RB every 2-3 years? Well...I guess you could always keep picking a Buckeye RB.

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If you pay the Oline and focus on that, then yah, you can keep the revolving door going. Should always have 2 to 3 good backs on the roster.

buybuydandavis said:

That's a good point about Cooper's age. He is 26 now, will be 28 in a couple of years. Not washed up, but we should expect performance to slide from then on out, if it hadn't already started sliding before that.

But I see Gallup as more of a fallback than a desired outcome. I don't expect him to ever be a strong #1, but we'd have to pay him like a #1. It will be poor value. I'd rather see him go and bring up another guy.

Gallup will be an option in 2 years, but I don't see him as that desirable an option. If Cooper is sliding, probably better to bring up a new WR and dump Cooper when the new guy can take over at #2.

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better to pay gallup more than waste money on zeke

Toruk_Makto said:

Imagine not realizing that me using Zeke's cap hit rather than base salary was actually being kind to the discussion since his signing bonus is spread over multiple years.

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You are lost in the sauce man and won't quit even when well behind.
Zeke's deal was team friendly.
His SB hasn't even been fully paid yet.
He has only collected 7.5M SB with an option bonus of 13M coming.
So the year he signed his deal he ONLY collected ~8M... After training in Cabo and such he probably about broke even on what he had coming in his rookie deals final season.
His entire GTD money was really middling because they basically counted the 17M he was ALREADY GTD by league rules.

But you cornballs refuse to see the obvious... RBs get hosed and the best deal Zeke could make was a good one for the team.
Dallas paid out his final rookie season and his option year then got what amounts to a 2-year deal with none of that new money fully GTD except as they go and a boatload of fake seasons on the end so they can spread money easily now and then at their whim.
He got a LITTLE bit of security for letting Dallas control his career from here on out.
Zeke essentially got a 2 year 35M deal for shutting up and playing out his final cheap season and earning his option money year 5.
It's small potatoes for a guy that was a league MVP candidate once and has led the league in rushing yards per game since entering.
Dallas is 23-5 in games when Zeke hits 100 yards rushing so while nerd twitter tells you RBs don't matter they are incorrect as relates to the Dallas Cowboys.

Dallas will almost certainly end up having to cut Zeke at some point and the money may look bad the final season or so depending on his health and fall off but as the OP stated his actual deal is NOTHING like what is bandied as his actual deal.
His chances of touching 90M are near zero and would certainly require extensions.
His total and GTD dollars are ignoring that he had 16-17M of that coming already so they sound better than they really are.

Today I learned giving Zeke the largest RB contract in history is team friendly. When other teams are getting similiar or more production for a fraction. Cool