He's a distraction. His own teammates wanted him gone.
I think his team mates were jealous of him.
I think a number of them are looking at big contracts soon and ET was not considered as one of the 'Boys'.
He walked in and walked right to the front of the cash out window and had a ton of money handed to him without doing much for his team mates.
Friction was one of the reasons the other players supposedly wanted him gone. One less mouth to feed at dinner time.
I would meet with him, see what would get him to Dallas and give him a 2 year deal..
First year you pay him half his preferred money with a clause if he meets his contract clauses without incident then his second year he gets 50% more of his contract and if all goes well at the end of the 2nd year Dallas can renegotiate or ET can walk and go get another deal elsewhere.
Let's say the Ravens were paying him $12mil/yr. We will pay him $6mil to sign. Second year..he gets $12mil/yr. as long as he performs and his behavior remain acceptable.
He gets paid but he has to rehabilitate his image in the first year. Then in his 2nd year he is restored to his real value in the market and he stands to make more on what will be his last contract.
He is 31 right now and would be 33 when he finishes his last year with us. In the meantime Dallas can draft or sign other FAs to replace him once it plays out.
Dallas can make Incentive clauses a big part of the contract to safeguard their cap and ET can raise his pay by meeting the benchmarks of the deal without issues.
Dallas can have an injury clause like they did with McCoy if something occurs as he has been injured alot in the last 3 years.
If Dallas really thinks they are SB contenders this year or next..it would be wise to sign a guy like ET to allow our draft picks to be used at LBer, CB, OL or DL as McCoy is not returning, Alton Smith may not be resigned and we need alot of holes filled going forward.
Sign ET. Find a way.
