More fans needing to be kept comfortable. If teams set a precedent of negotiating after year 3 then players are going to want to negotiate after year 3 when they ball out at elite levels like Aaron Donald or Zeke have. So there is no "turn" when teams allow players to talk to them as early as post-year 3. If there was a rule against it, front offices would show it to players and not even talk. They don't do that because there is none plus they want to keep their blue chip player happy. The front offices started it and players just follow suit. Just like owner greed. Yet the players are the perpetrators when they merely react. Why is that?
It's interesting to view this from Cowboys precedent. They have been all over the map.
Frederick got his new deal after his 3rd year.
Zach Martin was drafted in 2014. He didn't get his new deal until after his 4th year.
Tyron Smith got a new deal after his third year.
Bryant didn't get his new deal until later. Byron Jones is entering his option year and has no new deal.
If you go back as far as Ware, he signed his first extension after Year 4.
So it seems precedent here is if you are willing to take a team friendly deal - like Smith and Frederick were - you can get a deal done when you first are eligible. If you want to hold out for more money, and I recall Martin wanted more and Bryant's was a difficult negotiation, you likely are looking at a redo in your option year, at the earliest.
So Dallas holding firm here with Elliott isn't unprecedented.
