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

[Diehardblues]

We’ll start by getting this out of the way. Ezekiel Elliott is a very talented football player. He brings value to any team he is on. He is a durable running back, he is a fierce blocker in pass protection, and he can be a very productive player. The Cowboys are a better team with him on the roster, although the ability to replace him probably isn’t as hard as the Cowboys staff thinks it would be.


All of this is a long way of saying Elliott is a quality back who can help his team, but he shouldn’t be the highest paid running back in the game. Way back in 2019, the Cowboys made a mistake by handing Elliott a huge contract after he held out of training camp. That mistake haunts them to this day.

Just how miscalculated that contract was can be shown in a recent article from ESPN discussing the highest-paid players in the league at each position. They break their figures down by the highest three-year average, and highest guaranteed money. Elliott is second in average per year, and is first in guaranteed money.

Highest three-year APY:

1. Christian McCaffrey, $17.2 million

Signed: April 2020 (contract ends in 2025)

2. Ezekiel Elliott (DAL), $16 million

3. Alvin Kamara (NO), $12.7 million

Total guaranteed money:

1. Ezekiel Elliott, $50.05 million

Signed: September 2019 (contract ends in 2026)

2. Christian McCaffrey (CAR), $36.3 million

3. Alvin Kamara (NO), $34.3 million

Full story below :
https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/202...e-a-bad-deal-christian-mccaffrey-alvin-kamara

 

[ItzKelz]

Zeke had a great agent......

 

[rags747]

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.

 

[Diehardblues]

Zeke had a great agent......

And we have an owner who caves in on marquee talent

 

[stiletto]

They had visions of an Emmitt Smith repeat dancing in their head his rookie year when he was jumping into the Salvation Army kettle. Totally fawned over Zeke the moment he walked in the door. Doled out probably one of the worst contracts in team history to a RB. Complete silliness.

 

[glimmerman]

We have a out after this year. And he would be cheaper next year than this year. If he comes back to the prime player he was they will keep him next year. His 50 guaranteed is paid after this year. I think D-Law has a out after this year also. They could take the hit after this year and dump both. I could be wrong. Wouldn’t be the first time this morning according to my wife..

Yes dumping him or them will be a cap hit, that’s the price of having star players.

 

[John813]

I don't get the 3 year average purpose. Cap numbers are inflated and deflated to make certain years work/shove money to future years to deal with.

Contracts are restructured or cut all the time. I doubt CMC is even on the roster for 3 years the way he piles up injuries.

Zeke may have a 22-24 average of 16mil per year, but that doesn't mean his average cap hit will actually be that over those 3 years.
Zeke got the highest amount of guaranteed but he also got the longest contract, intentionally as the Jones gang loves to restructure their core players

The only red flag to me was the % of guaranteed vs total contract.
Both Kamara and CMC got under 50% at signing.

 

[PAPPYDOG]

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!!!

 

[jterrell]

Article is a combination of crying over spilled milk and goofy timing after a Sturm and later ESPN point.
Zeke's in the last year of any guarantees.
Zeke has the 4th most rushing yards in the league since 2019 and is an elite pass protector. So he's been a top 5 RB in that time but most definitely not at the very top or worth his AAV.
After this season he will either get renegotiated down in cost or he will be released.
And then the totals will change.
POTENTIAL OUT: 2023, 4 YR, $50,124,551; $11,860,000 DEAD CAP
So he is NOT getting 16 AAV. But 12.5 AAV is a lot at RB.

McCaffrey is 19th in rushing yards since 2019.
His contract is much worser than Zekes.
POTENTIAL OUT: 2023, 3 YR, $39,174,774; $18,352,250 DEAD CAP
More dead cap hit, higher AAV and far less production.

 

[Diehardblues]

Over paying a RB simply isn’t sound Mgmt of the Cap this era. Especially when suitable replacements can be found in draft , etc.

Remember how we let Murray go and then drafted Zeke.

 

[ItzKelz]

And we have an owner who caves in on marquee talent

The owner definitely got owned on this contract......

 

[jterrell]

I don't get the 3 year average purpose. Cap numbers are inflated and deflated to make certain years work/shove money to future years to deal with.

Contracts are restructured or cut all the time. I doubt CMC is even on the roster for 3 years the way he piles up injuries.

Zeke may have a 22-24 average of 16mil per year, but that doesn't mean his average cap hit will actually be that over those 3 years.
Zeke got the highest amount of guaranteed but he also got the longest contract, intentionally as the Jones gang loves to restructure their core players

The only red flag to me was the % of guaranteed vs total contract.
Both Kamara and CMC got under 50% at signing.

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.

 

[jazzcat22]

Do we really need another Zeke dis-like thread?

How many times has then been hashed over and over. Saturday can't get here fast enough. At least we will get the ...this team sucks ...threads for a few days.

 

[Diehardblues]

Do we really need another Zeke dis-like thread?

How many times has then been hashed over and over. Saturday can't get here fast enough. At least we will get the ...this team sucks ...threads for a few days.

With all due respect this was just posted yesterday in bloggintheboys responding to the ESPN clip. And wasn’t bashing Zeke. It was bashing his contract which I’d interpret as bashing our ownership.

 

[john van brocklin]

We’ll start by getting this out of the way. Ezekiel Elliott is a very talented football player. He brings value to any team he is on. He is a durable running back, he is a fierce blocker in pass protection, and he can be a very productive player. The Cowboys are a better team with him on the roster, although the ability to replace him probably isn’t as hard as the Cowboys staff thinks it would be.


All of this is a long way of saying Elliott is a quality back who can help his team, but he shouldn’t be the highest paid running back in the game. Way back in 2019, the Cowboys made a mistake by handing Elliott a huge contract after he held out of training camp. That mistake haunts them to this day.

Just how miscalculated that contract was can be shown in a recent article from ESPN discussing the highest-paid players in the league at each position. They break their figures down by the highest three-year average, and highest guaranteed money. Elliott is second in average per year, and is first in guaranteed money.

Highest three-year APY:

1. Christian McCaffrey, $17.2 million

Signed: April 2020 (contract ends in 2025)

2. Ezekiel Elliott (DAL), $16 million

3. Alvin Kamara (NO), $12.7 million

Total guaranteed money:

1. Ezekiel Elliott, $50.05 million

Signed: September 2019 (contract ends in 2026)

2. Christian McCaffrey (CAR), $36.3 million

3. Alvin Kamara (NO), $34.3 million

Full story below :
https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/202...e-a-bad-deal-christian-mccaffrey-alvin-kamara

Here is what gets me:
They screwed up with the initial contract.
Then on top of that, they reworked his contract a year or two ago giving him more guarenteed money.
As long as we have amatuers running our front office we are never going to sniff the Superbowl.

 

[john van brocklin]

With all due respect this was just posted yesterday in bloggintheboys responding to the ESPN clip. And wasn’t bashing Zeke. It was bashing his contract which I’d interpret as bashing our ownership.

Agreed,
This is an indictment on how poorly our team is run, not a slap at Zeke.

 

[Diehardblues]

Here is what gets me:
They screwed up with the initial contract.
Then on top of that, they reworked his contract a year or two ago giving him more guarenteed money.
As long as we have amatuers running our front office we are never going to sniff the Superbowl.

And that was my take away from this article which it sounds like we have some who just read the title. It wasn’t a Zeke bashing story .

 

[john van brocklin]

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.

Yes, our Front Office vs Savvy Agents.
Who wins that battle most times ?
I will you a hint: The name does not start with the letter " J ".

 

[Flamma]

We’ll start by getting this out of the way. Ezekiel Elliott is a very talented football player. He brings value to any team he is on. He is a durable running back, he is a fierce blocker in pass protection, and he can be a very productive player. The Cowboys are a better team with him on the roster, although the ability to replace him probably isn’t as hard as the Cowboys staff thinks it would be.


All of this is a long way of saying Elliott is a quality back who can help his team, but he shouldn’t be the highest paid running back in the game. Way back in 2019, the Cowboys made a mistake by handing Elliott a huge contract after he held out of training camp. That mistake haunts them to this day.

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.

 

[john van brocklin]

The owner definitely got owned on this contract......

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