Strategic Error Made With Elliott?

Knotamus · Aug 10, 2019

Vinnie2u said:
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

I don’t disagree with this point. But that could be said about many college kids. The scouts can only hope these guys will find maturity over time. It’s hard for me to hold this against the FO bc you see this problem throughout the league, not just the Cowboys.

My point is.. it was no secret Dallas needed a premier workhorse RB after not getting the ‘Demarco Murray like’ production from McFadden/Morris. Dallas was able to grab the consensus best RB in the draft. They knew Zeke wouldn’t have been there in the 2nd Rd, not to mention the only RBs taking afterwards were over worked Alabama RBs Derrek Henry (2rd/45th) and Kenyan Drake (3rd/73th). So the options were slim to say the least. Other options: CJ Procise, Tyler Ervin, Kenneth Dixon, Paul Perkins.. and of course 5th Rd Jordan Howard who isn’t even close the RB Zeke is.

Dallas made the right choice drafting Zeke. If his 2016 wasn’t proof enough, his career production and two rushing titles(should have been three) is. As usual, I think people are just trying to find reasons to blame the FO. Blame all these players that feel like they deserve the ‘Biggest Contracts Ever’ mentality. I.e.- I like Dak and defend him, but he dosent come close to validating $30+mil a year. And Cooper is great, but is he even the top 5 WR in the league? Zeke on the other hand, knows RB careers are short and is arguably the best back in the league.

CowboyRoy · Aug 10, 2019

Plumfool said:
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.

That's everyone. Dak and Cooper are in camp. Both those guys have one year left, not 2. And apparently there is a deal on the table to make him the 2nd highest paid back in the NFL. Hes just a guy that makes bad choices.

Bullflop · Aug 10, 2019

Both Jerry and Stephen spend too much time and effort trying to justify their positions in the media. It only encourages doubt to prevail. (jmho)

aria · Aug 10, 2019

Send the Entitled Ewok (EE) to the Cardinals or Miami, give him more carries than every other back and watch him come back to reality when he’s not the leading rusher. I promise it wokldn’t take long before he wok start throwing his teammates under the bus, pouting and quitting on plays like he did in Denver.

That’s what happens to people with egos the size of their heads, which in his case is the biggest in the league, and have been spoiled rotten by being surrounded by top talent their entire lives. He would have a mental breakdown, I’d bet he would have another physical altercation with a citizen by the end of the season just to take his anger out on someone.

glimmerman · Aug 10, 2019

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

Dak knows he is gonna get paid huge. Cooper is gonna be a problem if he wants Thompson money. I don’t think we are going to offer him the 100 million dollar deal but his agent is telling him different. But he is getting paid very well this year so he is in camp smiling. Lol. I would be too.

CowboyRoy · Aug 10, 2019

glimmerman said:
Dak knows he is gonna get paid huge. Cooper is gonna be a problem if he wants Thompson money. I don’t think we are going to offer him the 100 million dollar deal but his agent is telling him different. But he is getting paid very well this year so he is in camp smiling. Lol. I would be too.

Cooper is probably a guy you could franchise for a few years and he would play.

glimmerman · Aug 10, 2019

aria said:
Send the Entitled Ewok (EE) to the Cardinals or Miami, give him more carries than every other back and watch him come back to reality when he’s not the leading rusher. I promise it wokldn’t take long before he wok start throwing his teammates under the bus, pouting and quitting on plays like he did in Denver.

That’s what happens to people with egos the size of their heads, which in his case is the biggest in the league, and have been spoiled rotten by being surrounded by top talent their entire lives. He would have a mental breakdown, I’d bet he would have another physical altercation with a citizen by the end of the season just to take his anger out on someone.

I don’t think other teams will offer him gurly money. If the rams had a chance to do it again I don’t think they give him that. Lol. But while we own his contract if a team offered us a huge deal for him then maybe it’s for the best.

Look the man is amazing on the field. We will suffer without him and have to do things different. But off the field he is a mess and don’t know if it will change. Other teams may not put up with it. He definitely will be brought back to earth. I am betting that bell wishes he didn’t leave that money on the table.

glimmerman · Aug 10, 2019

CowboyRoy said:
Cooper is probably a guy you could franchise for a few years and he would play.

Bro. I am thinking the FO is thinking like you are. Is he playing under the tag this year.

Plumfool · Aug 10, 2019

CowboyRoy said:
That's everyone. Dak and Cooper are in camp. Both those guys have one year left, not 2. And apparently there is a deal on the table to make him the 2nd highest paid back in the NFL. Hes just a guy that makes bad choices.

Cooper and Dak play a different position. Their circumstances aren’t the same as Elliott ‘s not even close. And even if the offer is to make Elliott the second highest paid RB it’s probably still not a fair offer considering that would put him in between Gurley 14.4 mill and Le’Veon at 13.1 mill. Not to mention how the deal would be structured. Ownership would be wise to protect itself considering the running back position and Zeke would be wise to protect himself considering the running back position. It’s just business.

aria · Aug 10, 2019

glimmerman said:
I don’t think other teams will offer him gurly money. If the rams had a chance to do it again I don’t think they give him that. Lol. But while we own his contract if a team offered us a huge deal for him then maybe it’s for the best.

Look the man is amazing on the field. We will suffer without him and have to do things different. But off the field he is a mess and don’t know if it will change. Other teams may not put up with it. He definitely will be brought back to earth. I am betting that bell wishes he didn’t leave that money on the table.

For sure, there are a lot of people here that severely overrate his value. Out of all the teams that have had top RB’s in the past two decades, I don’t recall any of them falling off a cliff solely due to that RB leaving. It’s been proven over and over that RB’s are replaceable.

Would we get a RB as good as Zeke next year? Probably not. Could we get one that is much cheaper and serviceable enough to help win games with a good OC and O line? Absolutely. This chump wants to play hardball, if I were Jerry, I would play hardball right back but I doubt that will happen.

Seven · Aug 10, 2019

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.

Doesn't matter if he gets injured if he's tagged. He still gets every penny from what I understand.

Knotamus · Aug 10, 2019

I keep hearing people say Zeke should just honor is contract, keep his mouth shut, be a ‘good soldier’, etc... yeah, in general, I agree to a certain extent. But if folks were in the similar position in there careers, they’d might have a different opinion.

Whether people want to sympathize or atleast try to understand Zeke’s camp. The fact is.. QBs are playing well into there 30’s and some even their 40’s. Great WRs are playing at high levels into their late 30’s. On the other hand, very few RBs play past their 30’s. So, the reality is RBs only have one chance for a ‘Big’ contract.. even the best players like Zeke tend to wear down and injuries take their toll. That said, I understand Zeke’s position and future possibilities. It’s hard for some football fans to get that bc it’s just football to us. This is Zeke’s career and livelihood. Exp when you see barely above average players like QB Dak demanding $30+mil a year, I’m sure it would change many peoples mind of the urgency to guarantee their future. I’m not throwing rocks at a glass house here, I’m just putting it in perspective.

PAPPYDOG · Aug 10, 2019

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.

Venom galore it's amazing how ungrateful some of our fans are

even calling the guy a Ewok.
They forget what happened when this Ewok was out for 6 games and how terrible our offense was and how we missed the playoffs that year.
Anyway Zeke had to make the only call that would pay this young man the monies he deserves.
Zeke will be the highest paid HB prior to kick-off as not even Jerry is that goofy..... Bet on it!!!!!

408Cowboy · Aug 10, 2019

America's Cowboy said:
This! ^^^^

Let the money hungry bum sit out...and get fined for it. He didn't sit out when he gladly accepted such a huge rookie signing bonus when drafted in 2016, so he has no reason to be sitting out now. Why not be a man, honor your contract and show up to work while your agent works out an extension while you still have 2 years left?

The dude is being a greedy you know what. Forget him. I have no respect for greedy players like that who make such demands with 2 years still left on their current contract. Now, if it was a year from now and he was sitting out, I would understand why, but that is not the case today, is it?

I find it funny that quite a few posters with that attitude were all over Irving for quitting football because he could've made millions. It's damned if you do damned if you don't around here.

CowboyRoy · Aug 10, 2019

Plumfool said:
Cooper and Dak play a different position. Their circumstances aren’t the same as Elliott ‘s not even close. And even if the offer is to make Elliott the second highest paid RB it’s probably still not a fair offer considering that would put him in between Gurley 14.4 mill and Le’Veon at 13.1 mill. Not to mention how the deal would be structured. Ownership would be wise to protect itself considering the running back position and Zeke would be wise to protect himself considering the running back position. It’s just business.

Its no different. You are either a leader or you aren't. You can just tell that Cooper and Dak are a different kind of person and teammate. Zeke is a moron. Its not like Zeke isnt getting paid. Did you know Dak is getting paid like 1 million this year? I don't hear him complaining.

Hawkeye0202 · Aug 10, 2019

waldoputty said:
we own him for 2 years.
if he sits for 11 games and the team is in position for a good playoff run, then that is fine.
if he sits and the team is 3-8, then the team is not a good contender anyway.
superbowl, great.
winning the nfc east - who cares

So we don't need Zeke to be a contender?

Little Jr · Aug 10, 2019

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.

He never said he deserved Gurley money. He said it "Probably" started at Gurley money. Not that they were going to start at Gurley money, that the agent will start at Gurley money. He talks too much but to blame him for saying it out loud where it was going to start, as if he gave the agent some kind of new parameters is just silly. People act like Zeke agent is his uncle joe and never done and never done a NFL contact before. While he was sitting around the house having a beer he heard SJ say, it probably starts at Gurley money, and he was like, wow, I was going to start at bell money but now I'll move it up. SJ comment changed nothing where Zeke agent came in at. He has the 2 time leading rusher in the past 3 years, yards per game leader the past 3 years, a team built around the run and listening and reading people who say we can't win without him and cheery picking numbers to try to prove it. Cooper has a better argument that we can't win without him than Zeke does. Really not even close. Every one knew, or should've known, where the agent was coming in at.

waldoputty · Aug 10, 2019

Hawkeye0202 said:
So we don't need Zeke to be a contender?

if we are a real superbowl contender, we would not go 3-7 in the first 10 games.
we may lose an extra game or so.
if we go 5-5, then we were never a superbowl contender, so nothing matters besides better draft position.

Knotamus · Aug 10, 2019

CowboyRoy said:
Its no different. You are either a leader or you aren't. You can just tell that Cooper and Dak are a different kind of person and teammate. Zeke is a moron. Its not like Zeke isnt getting paid. Did you know Dak is getting paid like 1 million this year? I don't hear him complaining.

Not arguing, just keeping things in perspective here..

What you said may be true, but there is a big difference that seemingly gets over looked by most posters. If Dak has another statistical year like the three seasons before and shows reasonable growth in the coming years.. he has a chance to continue playing well into his 30’s as most of today’s QBs have demonstrated.

On the other hand, if Zeke continues to be a workhorse RB that he has been the last three years..statically he will undoubtedly be done by age 30, if not sooner.

All I’m saying is.. is not good practice to compare the two. One has a legitimate reason to be concerned about his future more than the other.

CowboyRoy · Aug 10, 2019

Knotamus said:
Not arguing, just keeping things in perspective here..

What you said may be true, but there is a big difference that seemingly gets over looked by most posters. If Dak has another statistical year like the three seasons before and shows reasonable growth in the coming years.. he has a chance to continue playing well into his 30’s as most of today’s QBs have demonstrated.

On the other hand, if Zeke continues to be a workhorse RB that he has been the last three years..statically he will undoubtedly be done by age 30, if not sooner.

All I’m saying is.. is not good practice to compare the two. One has a legitimate reason to be concerned about his future more than the other.

True, Elliott has less time. But my point is that you can just tell the difference in the two players in how they do things. One is a true leader of his team and one isn't.

Strategic Error Made With Elliott?

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There are no Dak haters just Cowboy lovers!!!

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