As time passes, Cowboys contract with Ezekiel Elliott looks even worse

Flamma said:

I'm going to have to disagree 100%. How long has Zeke been on the team? This is the first year his cap hit is high. I'm pretty sure he won the rushing title in 2018, so at 23 years old, who could have expected such a drop off? It's only a mistake in hindsight. Because had he rushed for 1800 yards last year no one would be complaining. And like I said, this will be his 7th year and the first year his cap hit is damaging. I don't see why all of the complaints. I'm assuming people don't look at his contract and think he's been a drag on the cap this whole time. He hasn't.

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john van brocklin said:

He gets owned on a lot of our star player contracts.
Jaylon Smith anybody?

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ItzKelz said:

He was trying to get ahead of the curb on Jaylon which I actually thought was smart considering what we thought Jaylon and LVE was going to be.

He should have tried to get ahead of Dak on his contract instead thought IMO. They've goofed a few times for sure.

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Flamma said:

I'm going to have to disagree 100%. How long has Zeke been on the team? This is the first year his cap hit is high. I'm pretty sure he won the rushing title in 2018, so at 23 years old, who could have expected such a drop off? It's only a mistake in hindsight. Because had he rushed for 1800 yards last year no one would be complaining. And like I said, this will be his 7th year and the first year his cap hit is damaging. I don't see why all of the complaints. I'm assuming people don't look at his contract and think he's been a drag on the cap this whole time. He hasn't.

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john van brocklin said:

It's a problem because RB's can fall off at anytime quickly because of the punishment they take.
You don't give a RB a large and long contract unless you are the Jones'

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Diehardblues said:

Regardless his production since the bigger issue is RB is not a position which over paying is sound Cap Mgmt . Its basically why we let Murray go and drafted a suitable replacement .

This article intent is not solely based on critiquing Elliotts production since the contract , its questioning whether paying a RB top salary in the league is what’s long term best interest for the team.

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rags747 said:

Not Zeke imo, it’s the ol that is the weakness. Keep getting hit at the los and your running game ain’t going to look so good. May-not be any better this year either.

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PAPPYDOG said:

I really can't remember how many times I have posted this but here goes once again.....

Does anyone remember the 6-game stretch without 21?
The 15 Q of offense without 1 TD?
The 3 @@@ whippings we took from the Bolts, Eagles, and Falcons?
Hence the big paycheck!!!

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Flamma said:

I agree. I think the contract was a bit much. But people don't realize, Zeke is only going into the 2nd year of his extension. He's probably never going to see 3-4 years of that extension. Here's the breakdown.

2016 - Rookie Contract
2017 - Rookie Contract
2018 - Rookie Contract (Signs a 6 year extension from 2021 through 2026)
2019 - Rookie Contract
2020 - 5th year Option
2021 - First year of extension, a 6M cap hit
2022 - 2nd year of extension, stupid high cap hit.

That's it. They can release him after this year. He'd be an 11M dead cap. So the contract wasn't that terrible.

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john van brocklin said:

Thanks for the logical, well thought out post, sir.
I think this is Zeke's last year unless he either blows up big time or reworks his contract.
I would like to see him stay, but not his current dollars next year.

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Flamma said:

That's a no brainer. Unless he rips off 1600+ yards, something has to give.

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jterrell said:

If Zeke had signed a 4 year 40M deal no one would be complaining.

Reality is he signed a 4-year 50M deal all but fully GTD.

That's not awful but it ain't a bargain to be sure.

The mistake was made on draft night. You draft cornerstones at pick 4.
And you sign those guys to extensions for sure.

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Flamma said:

That's a no brainer. Unless he rips off 1600+ yards, something has to give.

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jterrell said:

would be really easy to extend him but he'll need a solid to plus year to get that extension.
i'm not even sure if a 2K season would bring him back on the contract as is.
No reason too when you can add years to spread out cap hits.

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ItzKelz said:

Zeke had a great agent......

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jterrell said:

Yes. Context matters.
Zeke will end up at 12.5M AAV on his deal after this season.
There is virtually ZERO chance that deal remains as is

Dallas bought out 20M worth of 5th year option and franchise year money in this deal. That 20M off the top is why it looks so inflated.

The rolling guarantees are the part that makes it nasty. And that was merely good business by Zeke's agent that ensured he stayed employed.
He would have had to fall off at a Jaylon Smith level to be cut before 2023.

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Hawkeye0202 said:

I'm not sure Jerry and/or Stephen are sure what they will do with him right now. A lot depends on how he plays this season IMO, hence Jerry calling for him to be the focal point of the offense. Notice he didn't say, Pollard but Zeke.

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