What if the Cowboys had waited? And another what if

[Risen Star]

Or how about this what if. What if the Cowboys knew in April 2016 that Tony Pollard would be available to them in the near future for whatever ridiculous reason?

 

[Bobhaze]

Or how about this what if. What if the Cowboys knew in April 2016 that Tony Pollard would be available to them in the near future for whatever ridiculous reason?

Jerry is clearly just waiting to get out from under the Zeke deal so Pollard can be locked down through 2029. Jerry playing 3D chess and we’re just stuck scratching our heads. #injerrywetrust

 

[Diehardblues]

We all know why Elliott was signed. It was fear he was needed to prop Dak up.

 

[Diehardblues]

What you are failing to grasp is just because MM doesn't appear to be a good hire does NOT mean Garrett wasn't a good fire. (Not re-signed)

He had more than enough time and couldn't get us over the top plain and simple. That has zero to do with MM.

I think the bigger point is : is there a good hire we can make with Jethro?

Or did we have as good a puppet as we could have hoped for to hold this franchise together despite his flaws on game day .

 

[805BoysInBlue]

If Bill O'Brian is a gm some where next year im calling him up to trade him Zeke and he can give me what ever super start he has.

 

[G2]

Early extensions are dumb.

 

[Diehardblues]

He was good at establishing a vision for the team and acquiring the talent to satisfy his vision. He rarely gave us any strategic advantage and his game day management made me want to puke.

But for a franchise that’s talent dependent that vision acquiring talent along with coexisting with Jethro while attempting to overcome the dysfunctional organization kept this franchise more on an even keel despite not reaching our ultimate goals which it could be argued was more about lack of talent in certain areas( like defense) than coaching.

We may look back in the coming years and say from 2014-2018 those 3 divisional playoff games was as close as this franchise came to reaching its goals.

But if you want to keep swinging for the fences we can but I’m not sure we weren’t in a better place before. Time will tell. But drastic measures with an unorthodox organization may have better called for unusual solutions with a puppetry coaching staff our Football Idiots trusted and listened to.

 

[blueblood70]

What if Jerry had the courage to stonewall Zeke in his holdout in the summer of 2019? (Like the Steelers wisely did with LaVeon Bell) What if Zeke would have been told they weren’t going to negotiate with him two years early? What if indeed...

In the summer of 2016, the Dallas Cowboys signed Ezekiel Elliott, the 4th pick of the 2016 NFL draft, to a 4 year contract with a 5th year extension option. After 3 very productive seasons (one partially interrupted by a suspension) the Cowboys announced in April 2019 that they would be exercising Zeke’s 5th year option. In fact they announced it before he started his 4th year.

Later in the summer of 2019, Zeke famously headed to Cabo to try and twist Jerry’s arm early in a training camp holdout. Not going into his last year of a contract. After three years. We all know Jerry caved like a cheap suit and made Zeke the highest paid RB in league history.

Fast forward to now. If Jerry hadn’t caved, and we had stayed the course, Zeke’s rookie deal 5th year would be expiring in a few months. Or he could have turned into LaVeon Bell and left. And It’s safe to say had we waited, these things might have happened:

• Zeke would either be receiving a significantly different contract for his future from Dallas, or perhaps even from somewhere besides Dallas.
• Without the albatross of the Zeke deal, our roster flexibility would be much rosier.

Sure, hindsight is 20/20. But paying RBs a king’s ransom in today’s NFL is just foolish. We should have known that before 2019. It’s why the only two other teams that made the same mistake by signing big RB deals with LaVeon Bell (the jets) and Todd Gurley (Rams) both got out of those fat contracts early and cut their losses.

And since Zeke signed his big deal, his performance has fallen off the table. Starting last year when we still had T-Fred and the rest or our once great line. Want evidence?

• Since 2019, Zeke is tied for 25th in the league with just five 20-yard runs in 25 games.
• Compare that to Nick Chubb and Derrick Henry, who both have eighteen 20 yard runs during that same 25 game stretch.
• Since 2018, he has dropped from 4.7 ypc to 4.5 in 2019 to 3.7 this year.

So here’s the real question Dallas radio sports man Bob Sturm recently posed:

“If Zeke is no longer breaking big plays — and there are very few cases of players actually getting more explosive with age and wear and tear — should the Cowboys seriously consider turning down his March 2021 activator and playing with $24 million in dead money (split into two seasons) to get out of another doubling-down of his contract in 2022?”​

Count me in on that plan. Maybe we could learn from our mistake and move on as the jets and Rams did.

Growing tired of threads anti-zeke and what ifs blah blah blah,,it happened and 2020 is a throw out stats year for any player on the DC ..mulligan year..stop acting as if any of those players would have faired much better in this team in the exact same situations this team has endured injury wise, coahing changes, and no offseason etc etc etc..

Zeke would be doing very well with the titans, Ravens, Browns, or even MN..they actually have a mindset where run first play calls set up PA and utilize the TB the way zeke was his first 3 seasons..Kellen Moore is not the Oc to have is TB shine..2019 was the beginning of the end for our strong run game Identity and this year hard to tell given the horrible defense and all the injuries'..

BTW im not going to keep saying this but Emmit Smith had SIX SEASONS WHERE HIS END OF YEAR YPC WAS UNDER 4..HE PLAYED 13 YEARS SO NEARLY HALF OF THEM WERE WHAT ZEKES DOING THIS YEAR..HE HAD ONLY ONE (1) OVER 5.0 ,3-4 BETWEEN 4.5-4.9 ..

SO I GUESS EMMITTS ENTIRE CAREER WAS A SLOW FAT UNPRODCUTIVE OVERPAID TB WITH NO BURST AND SIMPLY VOLUME BACK ANY BACK OFF THE STREET COULD HAVE PUT UP THOSE NUMBERS GIVEN THE CARRIES? I mean he was Jag by the Zones standards ., held out right out of college and held out again for wanting to be the highest paid RB in NFl history at the time..sound familiar? He also played with a HOF coaching staff, and surrounded by HOF player in an era where the run game was featured..

HMM ODD when you research of the best RBs in NFL history with similar build, frame, and type of power back style of running you will find they were oddly similar to zeke..ke got paid because our identity was the run game wearing out teams, owing TOP, protecting our defense and guess what it worked we went to the playoffs in zekes best years, missed them his suspended year, and ever since the focus became Dak and Moore going pass happy and welp weve gone straight down hill since..

this isnt a zeke issue this is team identity and hath issue..

there are backs who are faster and more shifty but that doesnt discount what backs like Zeke can bring to a team..

lastly far to late to whine where he was drafted and when and how he was paid..its ancient history and cant be changed, so ridiculous to constantly bring up his deal..its OVER

SAME WITH BETTIS, GEORGE AND OTHERS..

 

[Diehardblues]

Actually, what you continue to fail to grasp is that the issue in Dallas hadn’t been at HC. We’re now seeing what happens when you pair an issue with the HC with the problems we already had in Dallas. Things get a lot worse, quickly.

Garrett did have plenty of time, and he wasn’t able to get us over the top, I agree. That’s because the actual problems keeping us from getting over the top weren’t related to coaching and were ultimately out of his control.

Which should be obvious to everybody at this point whose followed this team since Jimmy left. The McCarthy Era is just highlighting for us how much worse things can get when your problems start to compound on each other.

Yea, while Garrett alone may not have been enough to get us over the hump, assuming anyone can in this dysfunctional organization, he was enough to coexist maintaining a certain level of competitiveness.

His greatest assets were most likely off the field in his vision for the type team he wanted , influencing a chaotic meddling owner while finding a way to keep the team fighting hard despite those distractions and short comings of talent.

 

[blueblood70]

What if Jerry had the courage to stonewall Zeke in his holdout in the summer of 2019? (Like the Steelers wisely did with LaVeon Bell) What if Zeke would have been told they weren’t going to negotiate with him two years early? What if indeed...

In the summer of 2016, the Dallas Cowboys signed Ezekiel Elliott, the 4th pick of the 2016 NFL draft, to a 4 year contract with a 5th year extension option. After 3 very productive seasons (one partially interrupted by a suspension) the Cowboys announced in April 2019 that they would be exercising Zeke’s 5th year option. In fact they announced it before he started his 4th year.

Later in the summer of 2019, Zeke famously headed to Cabo to try and twist Jerry’s arm early in a training camp holdout. Not going into his last year of a contract. After three years. We all know Jerry caved like a cheap suit and made Zeke the highest paid RB in league history.

Fast forward to now. If Jerry hadn’t caved, and we had stayed the course, Zeke’s rookie deal 5th year would be expiring in a few months. Or he could have turned into LaVeon Bell and left. And It’s safe to say had we waited, these things might have happened:

• Zeke would either be receiving a significantly different contract for his future from Dallas, or perhaps even from somewhere besides Dallas.
• Without the albatross of the Zeke deal, our roster flexibility would be much rosier.

Sure, hindsight is 20/20. But paying RBs a king’s ransom in today’s NFL is just foolish. We should have known that before 2019. It’s why the only two other teams that made the same mistake by signing big RB deals with LaVeon Bell (the jets) and Todd Gurley (Rams) both got out of those fat contracts early and cut their losses.

And since Zeke signed his big deal, his performance has fallen off the table. Starting last year when we still had T-Fred and the rest or our once great line. Want evidence?

• Since 2019, Zeke is tied for 25th in the league with just five 20-yard runs in 25 games.
• Compare that to Nick Chubb and Derrick Henry, who both have eighteen 20 yard runs during that same 25 game stretch.
• Since 2018, he has dropped from 4.7 ypc to 4.5 in 2019 to 3.7 this year.

So here’s the real question Dallas radio sports man Bob Sturm recently posed:

“If Zeke is no longer breaking big plays — and there are very few cases of players actually getting more explosive with age and wear and tear — should the Cowboys seriously consider turning down his March 2021 activator and playing with $24 million in dead money (split into two seasons) to get out of another doubling-down of his contract in 2022?”​

Count me in on that plan. Maybe we could learn from our mistake and move on as the jets and Rams did.

 

[starfan1]

if my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle! That said I wish the cowboys had not picked Zeke with the number 4. Looking babk its apparent how dumb it was and then compound it by extending him. But I'm sure the OSU apologist will back Zeke to no end.

The right pick was Ramsey although I cant stand him either

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

Growing tired of threads anti-zeke and what ifs blah blah blah,,it happened and 2020 is a throw out stats year for any player on the DC ..mulligan year..stop acting as if any of those players would have faired much better in this team in the exact same situations this team has endured injury wise, coahing changes, and no offseason etc etc etc..

Zeke would be doing very well with the titans, Ravens, Browns, or even MN..they actually have a mindset where run first play calls set up PA and utilize the TB the way zeke was his first 3 seasons..Kellen Moore is not the Oc to have is TB shine..2019 was the beginning of the end for our strong run game Identity and this year hard to tell given the horrible defense and all the injuries'..

BTW im not going to keep saying this but Emmit Smith had SIX SEASONS WHERE HIS END OF YEAR YPC WAS UNDER 4..HE PLAYED 13 YEARS SO NEARLY HALF OF THEM WERE WHAT ZEKES DOING THIS YEAR..HE HAD ONLY ONE (1) OVER 5.0 ,3-4 BETWEEN 4.5-4.9 ..

SO I GUESS EMMITTS ENTIRE CAREER WAS A SLOW FAT UNPRODCUTIVE OVERPAID TB WITH NO BURST AND SIMPLY VOLUME BACK ANY BACK OFF THE STREET COULD HAVE PUT UP THOSE NUMBERS GIVEN THE CARRIES? I mean he was Jag by the Zones standards ., held out right out of college and held out again for wanting to be the highest paid RB in NFl history at the time..sound familiar? He also played with a HOF coaching staff, and surrounded by HOF player in an era where the run game was featured..

HMM ODD when you research of the best RBs in NFL history with similar build, frame, and type of power back style of running you will find they were oddly similar to zeke..ke got paid because our identity was the run game wearing out teams, owing TOP, protecting our defense and guess what it worked we went to the playoffs in zekes best years, missed them his suspended year, and ever since the focus became Dak and Moore going pass happy and welp weve gone straight down hill since..

this isnt a zeke issue this is team identity and hath issue..

there are backs who are faster and more shifty but that doesnt discount what backs like Zeke can bring to a team..

lastly far to late to whine where he was drafted and when and how he was paid..its ancient history and cant be changed, so ridiculous to constantly bring up his deal..its OVER

SAME WITH BETTIS, GEORGE AND OTHERS..

BTW, Emmitt still ripped off four carries of 20+ yard runs at age 35.

Bettis still managed one run of 20+ yards at age 33 and 255+ lbs.

Guess how many Zeke has?

 

[Oz-of-Cowboy-Country]

What if Jerry had the courage to stonewall Zeke in his holdout in the summer of 2019? (Like the Steelers wisely did with LaVeon Bell) What if Zeke would have been told they weren’t going to negotiate with him two years early? What if indeed...

In the summer of 2016, the Dallas Cowboys signed Ezekiel Elliott, the 4th pick of the 2016 NFL draft, to a 4 year contract with a 5th year extension option. After 3 very productive seasons (one partially interrupted by a suspension) the Cowboys announced in April 2019 that they would be exercising Zeke’s 5th year option. In fact they announced it before he started his 4th year.

Later in the summer of 2019, Zeke famously headed to Cabo to try and twist Jerry’s arm early in a training camp holdout. Not going into his last year of a contract. After three years. We all know Jerry caved like a cheap suit and made Zeke the highest paid RB in league history.

Fast forward to now. If Jerry hadn’t caved, and we had stayed the course, Zeke’s rookie deal 5th year would be expiring in a few months. Or he could have turned into LaVeon Bell and left. And It’s safe to say had we waited, these things might have happened:

• Zeke would either be receiving a significantly different contract for his future from Dallas, or perhaps even from somewhere besides Dallas.
• Without the albatross of the Zeke deal, our roster flexibility would be much rosier.

Sure, hindsight is 20/20. But paying RBs a king’s ransom in today’s NFL is just foolish. We should have known that before 2019. It’s why the only two other teams that made the same mistake by signing big RB deals with LaVeon Bell (the jets) and Todd Gurley (Rams) both got out of those fat contracts early and cut their losses.

And since Zeke signed his big deal, his performance has fallen off the table. Starting last year when we still had T-Fred and the rest or our once great line. Want evidence?

• Since 2019, Zeke is tied for 25th in the league with just five 20-yard runs in 25 games.
• Compare that to Nick Chubb and Derrick Henry, who both have eighteen 20 yard runs during that same 25 game stretch.
• Since 2018, he has dropped from 4.7 ypc to 4.5 in 2019 to 3.7 this year.

So here’s the real question Dallas radio sports man Bob Sturm recently posed:

“If Zeke is no longer breaking big plays — and there are very few cases of players actually getting more explosive with age and wear and tear — should the Cowboys seriously consider turning down his March 2021 activator and playing with $24 million in dead money (split into two seasons) to get out of another doubling-down of his contract in 2022?”​

Count me in on that plan. Maybe we could learn from our mistake and move on as the jets and Rams did.

1) You forgot to add D.Law, T.crawford, A.Cooper to your what if contract game.

2) What if Garrett gave Romo his job back in the 2016 playoffs?

3) What if the refs actually knew what a catch was? #Dez.Caught.It

4) What if Dallas drafted Aaron Rodgers instead of Marcus Spears in 2005.

The what if game is like Monopoly, it never ends. Iol

 

[blueblood70]

BTW, Emmitt still ripped off four carries of 20+ yard runs at age 35.

Bettis still managed one run of 20+ yards at age 33 and 255+ lbs.

Guess how many Zeke has?

Yes Moronic threads started daily will trigger person, ignorance is bliss..

 

[blueblood70]

1) You forgot to add D.Law, T.crawford, A.Cooper to your what if contract game.

2) What if Garrett gave Romo his job back in the 2016 playoffs?

3) What if the refs actually knew what a catch was? #Dez.Caught.It

4) What if Dallas drafted Aaron Rodgers instead of Marcus Spears in 2005.

The what if game is like Monopoly, it never ends. Iol

true dat homie..lol

what if this zone didnt allow so many moronic threads started on he same subjects....hmm

 

[jnday]

What if Jerry had the courage to stonewall Zeke in his holdout in the summer of 2019? (Like the Steelers wisely did with LaVeon Bell) What if Zeke would have been told they weren’t going to negotiate with him two years early? What if indeed...

In the summer of 2016, the Dallas Cowboys signed Ezekiel Elliott, the 4th pick of the 2016 NFL draft, to a 4 year contract with a 5th year extension option. After 3 very productive seasons (one partially interrupted by a suspension) the Cowboys announced in April 2019 that they would be exercising Zeke’s 5th year option. In fact they announced it before he started his 4th year.

Later in the summer of 2019, Zeke famously headed to Cabo to try and twist Jerry’s arm early in a training camp holdout. Not going into his last year of a contract. After three years. We all know Jerry caved like a cheap suit and made Zeke the highest paid RB in league history.

Fast forward to now. If Jerry hadn’t caved, and we had stayed the course, Zeke’s rookie deal 5th year would be expiring in a few months. Or he could have turned into LaVeon Bell and left. And It’s safe to say had we waited, these things might have happened:

• Zeke would either be receiving a significantly different contract for his future from Dallas, or perhaps even from somewhere besides Dallas.
• Without the albatross of the Zeke deal, our roster flexibility would be much rosier.

Sure, hindsight is 20/20. But paying RBs a king’s ransom in today’s NFL is just foolish. We should have known that before 2019. It’s why the only two other teams that made the same mistake by signing big RB deals with LaVeon Bell (the jets) and Todd Gurley (Rams) both got out of those fat contracts early and cut their losses.

And since Zeke signed his big deal, his performance has fallen off the table. Starting last year when we still had T-Fred and the rest or our once great line. Want evidence?

• Since 2019, Zeke is tied for 25th in the league with just five 20-yard runs in 25 games.
• Compare that to Nick Chubb and Derrick Henry, who both have eighteen 20 yard runs during that same 25 game stretch.
• Since 2018, he has dropped from 4.7 ypc to 4.5 in 2019 to 3.7 this year.

So here’s the real question Dallas radio sports man Bob Sturm recently posed:

“If Zeke is no longer breaking big plays — and there are very few cases of players actually getting more explosive with age and wear and tear — should the Cowboys seriously consider turning down his March 2021 activator and playing with $24 million in dead money (split into two seasons) to get out of another doubling-down of his contract in 2022?”​

Count me in on that plan. Maybe we could learn from our mistake and move on as the jets and Rams did.

Zeke hasn’t played up to his contract, but his contract is only one of several bad contracts. DLaw received a huge deal and he has only played decent run defense from time to time. $20+ million a year for slightly above average run defense is not a very good deal. Jaylon and Cooper both have huge contracts , but their play is nowhere near their level of pay. I can’t remember the last big contract that Jerry handed out that ended up being a good deal for the Cowboys. Was it Romo?

 

[G2]

BTW, Emmitt still ripped off four carries of 20+ yard runs at age 35.

Bettis still managed one run of 20+ yards at age 33 and 255+ lbs.

Guess how many Zeke has?

I'm not defending Elliott, but what does +20 really mean, is that the measurement of a great RB? Just curious.

 

[Flamma]

I was as big a fan of Zeke as anyone until his holdout, I thought Jerry should have let him sit. Even after he signed I forgot about it, thinking about how much he meant to the team.

In hindsight it turned out poorly. But other than that, there was nothing wrong with the hold out. Had he played up to expectations, it would have been less cap friendly a year later to sign him.

 

[blueblood70]

1) You forgot to add D.Law, T.crawford, A.Cooper to your what if contract game.

2) What if Garrett gave Romo his job back in the 2016 playoffs?

3) What if the refs actually knew what a catch was? #Dez.Caught.It

4) What if Dallas drafted Aaron Rodgers instead of Marcus Spears in 2005.

The what if game is like Monopoly, it never ends. Iol

you forgot Jsmith and the forever restructuring of Tsmths deal when does it end 2030 now LOL and what wasn't it just year after LC big new deal he coming in out of shape, gets hurt but right before then didn't they add bonus money and restructure his deal? i cant remember.. lots of players NOT ON THE FIELD THIS YEAR MAKING 2.5Xs zekes deal..

on that note how much has dak contract this year 32mil for 4 games and a 1-3 start? so lets clear this up 32mil divided by 4 is 8mil a game and only one win ..hmm

now zekes made 22mil for 32games played the last two years dang so zekes 3 year total will most likely be for 48 games and amount to 38mil so that 3years of zeke being on the field ALL games and just getting bit more then Daks FOUR GAMES PLAYED IN 2020 at 32mil..

whos making too much?

oh wait Cooper makes 20mil, Dlaw makes 21, Js what 10/12 to zekes 15 next year but what Bobbing for apples fan leaves out is zeke only got under 11 AAV the first two years of his deal and doesnt get the 15 until 2021..

who making too much? any of them have two rushing titles and also led the league in YPG in 2017 while suspended for 2017 and 209 was still productive after he got paid..

Odd i see players on our own team far surpassing zeke in money with far less production..

right what if fans just shut up!!

 

[CATCH17]

Told ya'll it was stupid at the time.

Dak deal is stupid as well.. But just like Zeke you guys will applaud it now.