Strategic Error Made With Elliott?

8FOR!3 said:

I think if he sits out 11 games and plays, he wins. He demands a trade then and puts in minimal effort until we trade him and we’re screwed. Does it make him look even worse? Sure but is there anything we can do about it? Not really

More trade value now and bridges haven’t been burned YET so I think you need to make a decision before the season starts

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The reason he's doing this is Booger is known as a blinker. He did it with Bryant and he'll do it with Elliott.

The risk Elliott is taking is that they do well without him because a lot of this is spinning off that "the QB isn't effective without him" and if you are Elliott and hearing these numbers being tossed around about the QB, who is not in the top 10 in the league and he's considered an elite back. What I say is screw 32M to the QB. If he needs the RB to make it work, take 12M of that and give it to the RB. It seems that the RB is more critical than the QB.

gmoney112 said:

I have a hard time comparing him to Dak when Zeke got more 5x more money before he even showed up for camp, than Dak made on his entire rookie contract, which he's playing out. And Dak didn't get suspended and have multiple meetings with Goodell by the time he was going into his 4th year.

Zeke made more money before he showed up for camp, than any RB in the NFL is making this year in salary.

He was going to make $33million on a rookie deal, and got a $16 million check before he showed up. He played 2.5 years, is a risk to get suspended for longer any season, and after 2.5 years wants to be the highest paid RB in the league with 2 years left on his deal.

I wouldn't even worry about his contract this year. If he wants to sit out, sit out. Don't care.

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Would not even have made him an offer.

The Cowboys did...it should have been a lowball deal if he wanted to get paid early.

ghst187 said:

As others have mentioned giving Elliott a new deal now is a huge precedent setting problem. LVE could pull it next....and so on.
It will also strike at the heart of our philosophy of building through the draft.
This is my biggest problem with this entire deal, that and Zeke hasn’t even played all of the games he should’ve bc of suspension, then flirted with another this offseason. Now he’s demanding a huge contract? ****!
He needed to shut his mouth, been on good behavior, played out this season and pulled this next year.
I don’t think we can win without him honestly but if Jerry gets mad and trades him I hope it’s to a toilet team in a miserable location.

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Play for 3M this year and holdout for 9M next year, would you do that?

Whyjerry said:

The strategic error was drafting him 4th overall knowing the issues he had at Ohio State.

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or the kind of person he is

CouchCoach said:

Not what he said on the radio, that's what started all of this. He made it sound like they were going to do a new deal and only used the option because of the deadline and went on to use Gurley as a comp contract.

That's what I don't get. Posters are all pissed at him, what about the COO starting all of this? Had he just optioned him and started working behind the scenes with his agent, maybe this doesn't get out of hand but the COO openly said he deserved at least Gurley money and 3M this season isn't it.

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Its his 4 year rookie contract. 4 years coach. Have you ever heard of another player at any position holding out after 3 years of his 4 year contract. Yes he out played it. So has Dak.

I think (and this is only speculation on my part) that when they picked up the 5th year option that Elliot’s agent called and said good for you for picking up that option but you do know that Elliot won’t play for it and will never play under the tag.

SJ said he was going to give him a big contract and it starts with gurly money and goes up. Pretty sure he meant after he honors his 4th year. He got a 16 million dollar check before he even took a snap for the team.

Yes 3 million is under paid. That’s the way the contract is laid out. Who is next to hold out after only 3 years of a rookie deal. This could spread all over the league. This starts happening and what’s the use of having contracts at all. The first few years they are getting paid most of there money they are fine, at the end of the deal when it’s working out for the FO instead of the player then they all the sudden it’s no fair.

Maybe on the next CBA they shorten the rookie deal for that position.

CouchCoach said:

This might get to an impasse before that because if they feel the team is not a contender because he's not there, the best thing to do is let him find another team for a trade and get something out of it. I don't think they'd get a 1st but they could get a 2nd and use that on a deep RB class in this next draft.

I have mixed emotions because I want to see them win those first 2 games without him but to see a flashback to 93 at 0-2 and the RB holding out would be really interesting and I don't think Booger could take it. Those on management's side in this might be rethinking that at 0-2 or 1-1.

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That Giants defense is arguably worse than last year and we beat them without Elliott and resting other starters in the 2nd half. If we don’t start off 3-0 without Zeke then we suck...which I don’t see happening.

waldoputty said:

it is rational for Elliot to hold until the 11th game to get credit for his year.
that is because the salary is low for this year and he loses only about 18k per game.
that reduces the wear and tear while the salary ramps up next year.

it is also rational for cowboys to let him sit until 11th game.
if the team is a contender, it will be fine for 10 games, saving elliot for the games that count.
if the team is not a real contender, then who cares.

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Zeke’s base salary is like 3.6 mil. So he loses $240,000 per game.

I agree with the rest of your points though.

the reason fans are so upset is it is only his third year and he is kinda dumping on the cowboys season personally he is my least favorite player and always has been he may be a good player on the field but the rest of his actions and his attitude sucks

Vinnie2u said:

Yes taking a RB with pick #4 is a strategic error. Specially when said so RB has a notorious party boy rep at OSU.

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Funny how NO one was crying about drafting him by the end of his rookie season...

Folks tend to forget he wasn’t drafted for Dak.. at the time we had McFadden/Morris as our primary RBs, the leagues best OL, a weak defense, and not to mention an aging, unfortunately fragile, yet very good QB. Zeke was drafted to compliment our offense and disguise our deficiencies on defense... Obviously the starting QB didn’t go as planned, but Zeke did More than everything he was drafted for. Dak and Zeke saved our 2016 season.

My point: Drafting what could end up being a generational talent is never an error. That’s exactly what the draft is for.. drafting talent!

Obviously when your drafting and/or acquiring very good talent, it becomes somewhat a problem to sign all these guys. But I’d rather have this problem, rather than not being able to draft talent at all. Besides, go ahead and say ‘I wish we had Bosa, Ramsey, Wentz, etc’.. we’d still have to pay them. So who cares when they were drafted, if they’re great players, they’re going to get paid. (5th Rd pick Tyreek Hill says hey)

I’m not one to squabble over when they were drafted. (Folks are still eating crow about Jaylon Smith) Bottomline, is our team has vastly change within 3 seasons and the FO can’t predict who they’ll hand contracts to a year from now, much less three years later.

Had Zeke played his contract out like anticipated, no one would be bothered by this and Dak/Amari’s contracts would probably already be resolved. I don’t hate how Zeke is handling this, it’s his business.. but he’s really thrown a monkey wrench in the FO contract negotiations. I just hope it’s resolved before the season. Because if everyone is healthy and on board, we really do have a good team and the sky is the limit.

Cowboys22 said:

Strategic error? Everyone and their grandma knew they would pick up the 5th year option. No one had to talk to anyone. Every team picks up the option if the player is even average.

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This.

Knotamus said:

Funny how NO one was crying about drafting him by the end of his rookie season...

Folks tend to forget he wasn’t drafted for Dak.. at the time we had McFadden/Morris as our primary RBs, the leagues best OL, a weak defense, and not to mention an aging, unfortunately fragile, yet very good QB. Zeke was drafted to compliment our offense and disguise our deficiencies on defense... Obviously the starting QB didn’t go as planned, but Zeke did More than everything he was drafted for. Dak and Zeke saved our 2016 season.

My point: Drafting what could end up being a generational talent is never an error. That’s exactly what the draft is for.. drafting talent!

Obviously when your drafting and/or acquiring very good talent, it becomes somewhat a problem to sign all these guys. But I’d rather have this problem, rather than not being able to draft talent at all. Besides, go ahead and say ‘I wish we had Bosa, Ramsey, Wentz, etc’.. we’d still have to pay them. So who cares when they were drafted, if they’re great players, they’re going to get paid. (5th Rd pick Tyreek Hill says hey)

I’m not one to squabble over when they were drafted. (Folks are still eating crow about Jaylon Smith) Bottomline, is our team has vastly change within 3 seasons and the FO can’t predict who they’ll hand contracts to a year from now, much less three years later.

Had Zeke played his contract out like anticipated, no one would be bothered by this and Dak/Amari’s contracts would probably already be resolved. I don’t hate how Zeke is handling this, it’s his business.. but he’s really thrown a monkey wrench in the FO contract negotiations. I just hope it’s resolved before the season. Because if everyone is healthy and on board, we really do have a good team and the sky is the limit.

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Joey Bosa moved out of the apartment that he and Zeke shared because of the partying. There were rumors about ecstasy.. I still said it was bad business taking a RB at #4 after year one. Just a opinion.

https://larrybrownsports.com/football/joey-bosa-moved-out-apartment-ezekiel-elliott-partying/387731

CouchCoach said:

I don't know the standard operating procedure with using the 5th year option on 1st round draft picks but it seems to be the prudent thing to do would be to talk to the agent and inform them of the intention of the team to exercise that option.

They could have done that but that would make this holdout really stress the relationship and maybe if they'd discussed this and known their intention, they might not have that option, which amounts to a one year contract, effectively allowing them to tag him twice and have three one year contracts in a row and he is guaranteed only that one current year. Including this year, Elliott would make about 36M over the next 4 years, if tagged and not injured.

Gurley on this latest contract is guaranteed 45M. See the math problem that Elliott sees?

The RB tag for this season is 11.2M, so he is already 2M in the hole with this option exercised and that would be going up next season.

Elliott has been injury free but he is a contact back and leads the NFL in carries per game over the last three years and he and his agent would see no reason for a decline in that this season. He is the definition of workhorse back.

I do see a lot of venom aimed in Elliott's direction but when I put myself in his place, I believe I would be doing the same thing he is, his only play is to hold out.

They exercise his option but then the COO goes on the radio and starts talking about a new contract, does that make sense? Sure there was a deadline but that's no excuse, they had time. Then he makes it worse by bringing up the Gurley contract, THE player the Elliott sees as his challenger to best in the NFL.

When you add the numbers being thrown around for the QB, that same QB that's not supposed to be very good without the RB and the WR that's been with the team for 10 games, can you not see where this could get you sideways if you were him?

I could be off base here and they did address the option before exercising it but I don't think that happened or they would not have been acting so blindsided. Those numbers above are exactly what Elliott is looking at and he and his agent are sending the message before most players do, Elliott is not a taggable player.

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All teams exercise the 5th year option on 1st round picks unless the player has not lived up to his draft status.

Aaron Donald held out of training camp going into his 4th season.
- He reported 1 day before game 1.
- He then held out all of the following off-season and signed a new contract just before the season started.

1. The market continues to decline for RBs overall.
- Gurley is the highest paid RB, but is the 64th highest paid NFL player.
- Saquon Barkley's rookie contract is the 6th highest RB contract.

2. The Aaron Donald and Khalil Mack holdouts set a trend.
- It's likely going to be common for highly rated players to holdout.

waldoputty said:

it is rational for Elliot to hold until the 11th game to get credit for his year.
that is because the salary is low for this year and he loses only about 18k per game.
that reduces the wear and tear while the salary ramps up next year.

it is also rational for cowboys to let him sit until 11th game.
if the team is a contender, it will be fine for 10 games, saving elliot for the games that count.
if the team is not a real contender, then who cares.

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Ok, but does he actually care at all about his team, team mates, or winning a championship?

You wanna start a uproar in the league.. Divide the cap by the players and pay them all the same. Put a end to all this crap. You all make millions per year now go play.

CowboyRoy said:

Ok, but does he actually care at all about his team, team mates, or winning a championship?

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He cares about getting his money. Then he will go back to caring about everything and everybody else. If they were close to a deal then I would show good faith and show up and get in the groove with the team. Would likely get the FO moving on the deal. Maybe..

gmoney112 said:

I have a hard time comparing him to Dak when Zeke got more 5x more money before he even showed up for camp, than Dak made on his entire rookie contract, which he's playing out. And Dak didn't get suspended and have multiple meetings with Goodell by the time he was going into his 4th year.

Zeke made more money before he showed up for camp, than any RB in the NFL is making this year in salary.

He was going to make $33million on a rookie deal, and got a $16 million check before he showed up. He played 2.5 years, is a risk to get suspended for longer any season, and after 2.5 years wants to be the highest paid RB in the league with 2 years left on his deal.

I wouldn't even worry about his contract this year. If he wants to sit out, sit out. Don't care.

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And when you factor in all his off field antics and how Jerry has give to bat for him again and again, I have no sympathy for Elliot

CouchCoach said:

No but my point is I think it was the option year that created this. They're looking at this as three one year contracts with no guarantee in the position most likely to get injured. Gurley is getting 45M and he's a huge injury risk, came in injured.

Like I said before, I am not looking at this as a fan or at some greedy player, and which ones aren't just like the owners, but what if this were my son, what would I advise him? RB's have a limited shelf life and this one is a workhorse contact back willing to go airborne to get additional yards.

As far as why not be a man? He had no choice but to sign that contract if he wanted to play. He plays for 3M and waits a year to hold out for 9M? Would you advise your son to do that?

I agree, this is new territory holding out with two left but one was an exercised option. If the NFLPA allows that to remain in the CBA, look for more players to do just what he's doing. And why in the hell just an option year for 1st rounders?

AC, I would be a lot hotter at Elliott had those two magpies not shot off their mouths on the radio about extending him and the dumbest one actually said Gurley's was the starting point. How in the hell can we blame the agent or the player when they started this entire mess with their mouths?

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CC ol' buddy, you've got this all wrong. Here is why...

First of all, I'm pretty sure Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones advised Zeke and his agent during rookie draft signing day that since Zeke was a 1st round pick, any team has the right to exercise their 5th year option on any of the 1st round picks according to the current CBA agreement, which the Cowboys agreed to do so this Spring. So, this should be no surprise to Zeke and his agent since they agreed to the fully explained rookie contract back in 2016.

Secondly, Zeke was signed back in 2016 to a $16 million signing bonus, which means it carries out divided for the original 4 years of his rookie contract (not including his base salary), which comes out to $4 mil/year in signing bonus per year for his first 4 years. Which means Zeke's base salary of $3.9 mil that he's supposedly playing for this year in actuality is almost $8 mil if you include the $4 mil/year in rookie signing bonus ($16 mil total) he received during rookie signing day, so let's not make excuses for Zeke and say Zeke is only playing for a measley $3.9 mil this season. He's already been pre-paid slightly double more than that 3 years ago for this year alone. If anyone has a right to complain for playing for peanuts, it's Dak, but that is for another discussion, especially since Dak is here at camp on his final year, unlike greedy Zeke!

Lastly, whether JJ and/or SJ said what they said this Spring, who cares? They can say whatever they want since they made it clear to Zeke and his agent that the Cowboys were going to pick up Zeke's 5th year rookie option and use it (which would pay Zeke more than $9 mil in 2020 -- That's not chump change). They made it clear to Zeke that they were going to use Gurley's contract as a minimum base to extend Zeke in the near future, whether it be this year or next year (likely next year). Everyone knows Jerry takes good care of his star players. Everyone knows Jerry has stood by Zeke through thick and thin, so why would it be any different, even if Zeke were to suddenly get injured this year? No way would Jerry abandon Zeke had Zeke simply kept his mouth shut, been an appreciative good soldier and set the right example to the rest of the team by showing up to work. But noooooo! Zeke just had to be a selfish, greedy and disruptive little ant, didn't he, especially when he had everything going for him and Jerry in his corner prior to this holdout?

What an idiot. I have no respect for selfish, unappreciative and disloyal players like that, especially when an owner like Jerry Jones has clearly gone to war for Zeke many times and always supported him. Now, Zeke can forget it. Zeke has been getting some terrible advice. He's going to reap what he has sown. I don't feel any sympathy for his selfish butt. He should have kept his greedy father and agent in check, and instead, been an appreciative good player and shown up to work. Trust me, he's going to regret this move. You don't bite the hand that feeds you and has supported you through your off-the-field problems, especially when it's a man called Mr. Jerry Jones!

Good luck, Zeke. You're going to need it.

CowboyRoy said:

Ok, but does he actually care at all about his team, team mates, or winning a championship?

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If he has a devastating injury that causes his life to change dramatically will anyone care about him outside his family and true friends? No according to some people “he’s just a commodity”. And players a lot of times are treated as such. Especially running backs.

glimmerman said:

He cares about getting his money. Then he will go back to caring about everything and everybody else. If they were close to a deal then I would show good faith and show up and get in the groove with the team. Would likely get the FO moving on the deal. Maybe..

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I agree. Just cares about the money. Where as Dak and Cooper are in camp and being true leaders and setting a good example.

visionary said:

And when you factor in all his off field antics and how Jerry has give to bat for him again and again, I have no sympathy for Elliot

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It’s hard to have sympathy for any of these players but Elliot is really hard to. JJ has been backing him from the beginning. Helped him more than we will ever know. It’s a slap in the face to the FO. To JJ and SJ. And they already said he will be getting a big contract. Just not this year. They want to sign Dak. Next year they will have even more money under the cap. Honor the deal for at least your 4 years. Some of these contracts for rookies are usually front end loaded for the team to be getting the better end of it at the end of the deal. When they get the second contract it usually a big one and they give the big bonus and start off saving cap room and kick the can down the road and the player gets big per year checks the last few years, especially for QB. Then when it gets there they will restructure.