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

Bobhaze said:

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.

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gjkoeppen said:

First off I'm not an Elliott fan at all but a team can't cut a player now and claim as a post June 1st cut for next season. You can only do that as a cut in the same league year as the cut. Cutting Elliott now would be adding 29 mil to the dead money. His dead money hit if cut this year was 35.4 mil minus half of this years costs which comes out as 6 mil so that leaves 29 mil. Already knowing there will be a smaller cap for 2021 the Cowboys can't afford to take 29 mil off of that by cutting Elliott now. Cutting him after the season will still put 13.7 mil on the dead money and again with a smaller cap, that Cowboys can't afford that either. They save 5 mil by keeping him. His fumbling aside, he also hasn't had the same line creating holes for him either. Cutting Elliott now is strictly a fantasy football move and not a real NFL move crippling the cap.

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Diehardblues said:

So, do you let Dak and Cooper go too? And if not , why not ?

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Bobhaze said:

Without knowing all the particulars of both contracts, yes, I would get away from both these guys as soon as is feasible. We need some young slobber knockers in the trenches more than anything.

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RonnieT24 said:

Parting ways with Dak, Zeke and Coop (may as well throw Lawrence, Tyron and Jaylon in there too) means fielding a triple A team next year. You guys maybe okay with that but I'm not. I'm trying like hell to get my whole band back together next season and see what happens. You can keep the guys you have and draft trenchmen as well. The two do not have to be mutually exclusive. We're virtually assured of a top 5 pick in next year's draft. I go find the baddest MFer D lineman I cat get with that pick. And then I get the baddest defender I can find in round two and then I get me a developmental tackle in round three.. then I draft more defense.

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Bobhaze said:

I understand why you or any fan would feel that way. But a good draft can change your fortunes immediately. We as fans tend to look only at what we have now without thinking about what a good draft can do for you in the future.

Look at the 2016 season. Everyone thought we were headed to the cellar, but that 2016 draft was the cornerstone of getting the #1 seed in the NFC that year. We wasted it, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do it again.

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Furboy said:

Exactly! MM is on house money this season anyway. So, we have an extended preseason with this record. Test everything out. See what all works and doesn't work this season. Screw the scoreboard other than to see what works and doesn't work. Who all can help us next season and who can't. We could be dangerous next season depending on how strategically we play the rest of this season.

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Bobhaze said:

I was suggesting a post June 1, 2121 cut.

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Eddie said:

There was no reason to ever give in to his demands last year. NEVER overpay for a RB !!!

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CATCH17 said:

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!

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erod said:

Breaks no tackles. Outruns nobody.

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thunderpimp91 said:

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.

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RonnieT24 said:

I don't know anyone who thought that.. We all recalled that this team had been like 16-4 in Romo's last 20 starts so getting him back AND pairing him up with a top 5 pick for a running back and stationing him behind the best line in football most of us were thinking Super Bowl or at least deep playoff run. Then once Romo got hurt and we got to see Dak show out in preseason we might have softened our expectations a little but watching Dak operate that preseason gave every indication that if the team fell off that year it wasn't going to be on the level of what we had seen in 2015. Then his performances in the first couple of weeks confirmed that what we had seen in preseason was not a mirage.. The kid could play.. We know they dumbed down the offense to help him out but who cares? It worked.. That team should have gone 14-2 because there was no reason to tank that game to the Fecals at the end. But I really think the front office didn't want Dak to surpass the franchise best record held by Troy and Romo. Otherwise they would have let Romo finish that game out instead of Sanchez. Romo was razor sharp on his one series that day and the Cowboys probably boatrace the Eagles with either him or Dak at the helm. But I digress..

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• The Cowboys are the only NFC East team that does not receive a last-place vote, but only three experts (Jason La Canfora, Jared Dubin, Ryan Wilson) have them going to the playoffs.

Creeper said:

You don't save $12 million cutting Zeke in 2021. His 2021 salary is already guaranteed. By designating him June 1 cut they take a $13.7 million cap hit in 2021 and another $10.8 million in 2022. That means they would need to find $28 million to sign Dak and then more because they have other players they need to sign. In 2022, they get a net save of $1.6 million. Now if they can trade him and get someone to pick up his salary that would be fantastic.

Of course if they sign Dak to a long term deal, cap friendly in the first year, then maybe they can cut Zeke and take the entire hit in 2021.

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gjkoeppen said:

That's still a 13.7 mil cap hit of dead money and with a smaller cap that's adding too much on it. That actually cost the Cowboys 5 mil more than if they keep him. Again I'm far from an Elliott fan but I'm even a less of a fan that adds dead money to the cap. I'd rather hope that with a healthy line that Elliott at least earns that 5 mil difference.
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