Backup for Pollard

buybuydandavis said:

The *deal* generally contains guaranteed years and non-guaranteed years, the latter being years the team has the option to keep the player or not.

Teams have to honor the guaranteed years. And no one doubts this. The optional years are just that - optional. Teams declining to continue with that option are not failing to honor a deal.

Technically, a player holding out probably is in breach of contract, for which the CBA defines remedies. The owners are not in breach by cutting a player to non-guaranteed years - that is their right under the contract.

I get it a little. People are projecting their own values for keeping a contract to the situation. If you're not a big wheeler dealer, you probably view a contract as a deal between people making a good faith effort to fulfill the terms and expectations. A handshake and honest intentions. If I cut you off from an ongoing deal to squeeze you the moment I have leverage, you will view me as a jerk, whether or not technically there is nothing in the contract that prevents me from doing this.

Zeke is squeezing when he has leverage. Kind of jerky. But college players had no representation during CBA negotiations, and so were screwed by their rookie deals. That's also rather jerky.

So that's the way it works in the NFL. It's not the handshakes and goodwill realm of contracts. It's the squeeze the other side when you have the advantage realm of contracts.

I think Jerry, and others, gloss over the NFL structurally screwing rookies, and want to make it all handshakes and goodwill *after* rookies get screwed. I'm sure they do. But there's no reason to expect players coming into the league with a kick in the teeth to simply take it and not press *their* advantage when they get one. What goes around, comes around.

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Gaede said:

I am not optimistic about the 'new' offense, even with Zeke.

Everything I've read from Garrett is that the plays are the same, but supposedly disguised better.

That sounds like window dressing to me.

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buybuydandavis said:

I think Moore has made the point that there aren't magic plays available to some teams but not others. It's which ones you use, and when, that makes the difference.

We've had RPO, jet sweeps, play action, read option, all in the playbook. We just didn't use them that much.

On "disguise", there's no curtain you can hide the team behind, you just call plays from formations with more than one likely outcome, *requiring* that you actually take those other paths enough to make them credible threats to worry about. I like RPO and read option that let the QB decide *into* the play what's going to happen. That's disguise. Other decision points can be on pre snap reads.

Calling those kinds of plays makes for a very different offense than one that always does the same thing out of the same formation on the same downs. Which from analysis here, seems to be what Linehan has been doing.

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xwalker said:

Logic is what I do for a living, literally.

2016: They could have played veteran Mark Sanchez. They played rookie 4th round pick Dak instead.

2019: They could play play veteran Alfred Morris. They will play rookie 4th round pick Pollard instead.

I'm not one to buy into hype. I've been studying game footage of Pollard since before the Cowboys drafted him.
- I basically have the 2018 Memphis game(s) with Pollard vs UCF with Trysten Hill memorized.

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KingintheNorth said:

Crybaby? Because he wants more money?

I guess.

I'm just shocked that there are so many fans of the Cowboys who just take whatever wages their job offers them. No questions asked, no ambition or drive to want to be paid what you think you're worth.

I want Zeke to sign a team-friendly contract too (and I'd like him to grow up some), but I completely understand someone wanting to earn the most money possible, especially someone with such a short span to earn to tis kind of money.

Is Jerry a crybaby every time he holds out for a better business deal? Is the NFL crying when they demand top dollar from the networks?

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buybuydandavis said:

The *deal* generally contains guaranteed years and non-guaranteed years, the latter being years the team has the option to keep the player or not.

Teams have to honor the guaranteed years. And no one doubts this. The optional years are just that - optional. Teams declining to continue with that option are not failing to honor a deal.

Technically, a player holding out probably is in breach of contract, for which the CBA defines remedies. The owners are not in breach by cutting a player to non-guaranteed years - that is their right under the contract.

I get it a little. People are projecting their own values for keeping a contract to the situation. If you're not a big wheeler dealer, you probably view a contract as a deal between people making a good faith effort to fulfill the terms and expectations. A handshake and honest intentions. If I cut you off from an ongoing deal to squeeze you the moment I have leverage, you will view me as a jerk, whether or not technically there is nothing in the contract that prevents me from doing this.

Zeke is squeezing when he has leverage. Kind of jerky. But college players had no representation during CBA negotiations, and so were screwed by their rookie deals. That's also rather jerky.

So that's the way it works in the NFL. It's not the handshakes and goodwill realm of contracts. It's the squeeze the other side when you have the advantage realm of contracts.

I think Jerry, and others, gloss over the NFL structurally screwing rookies, and want to make it all handshakes and goodwill *after* rookies get screwed. I'm sure they do. But there's no reason to expect players coming into the league with a kick in the teeth to simply take it and not press *their* advantage when they get one. What goes around, comes around.

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Melonfeud said:

You wouldn't happen to have a rough running tabulation of the thus far total incurred fines to date it's costing the #21 to play his "leverage" card would you there BBx2d?

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buybuydandavis said:

Nope, but I doubt it matters. I think NFL fines come in absolute dollars, one of the stupidities of the league, so they're largely irrelevant to the high dollar players.

The missed game day checks technically could come with signing bonus clawback, but even though that is real money, I expect it to get wiped under the rug with any new deal.

Loss of dollars only matters in the case of #NoDealZekexit, and then it depends on number of games missed. It's around 5mil for both salary and clawback if he holds out the 10 game max to still get an accrued season.

He'll get a new deal.

Right now I don't see enough juice from the RBs to get it done w/o Zeke. But you never know who might be looking for a job after final cuts. Probably nice for a RB getting dumped to put some tape out there running behind out oline. Maybe added to Pollard we get a running back by committee? A Zeke fresh as a daisy for the back half of the season with RBs who already got it done in the first half. Sweet. Getting a bit ahead of myself, though.

He'll get a deal.

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