Twitter: Zeke's exit may need to happen sooner than later

[aria]

I want to see Pollard hold out.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

It is just that. Compete for a Super Bowl - not happening. The FO keeps saying we can win the Division. Maybe for some players incentives, but it is essentially a season long tryout at this point. So, why not let some of the backups play? Especially defense.

Exactly, we're not winning the SB this year. Even if we some how make the playoffs despite our predicament, we're not going anywhere. So let the backups play. Not the whole game, but just for a bit. If we go the whole game, it'd create suspicion.

 

[OmerV]

Yes but wasn't all or most of that done solo thanks to the quarantine? I mean you can Zoom all you want with a trainer but unless he's there with you to see how you're progressing, what you're struggling with there's no way of knowing how much benefit the work is getting you. And let's not forget this guy just turned 25 last summer. It's not like he's some grizzled veteran with a wealth of experience and knowledge about how to handle something like this. Like I said, if he is still struggling like this next year I would be prepared to move on.. but with all the different elements 2020 has provided it's worth waiting to see if he can regain his form with a "normal" offseason without a life threatening disease to contend with.

Much of that 2 1/2 months before the season started would have been on his own, yes, but presumably athletes were preparing for the season. They are all expected to work on it before ever coming to training camp, and if Zeke wasn't someone should kick him in the ***. If that's what happened I blame Zeke, not Covid.

At Zeke's age, and with his experience as an athlete, including in the NFL the last 5 years, he knows what it takes to get in shape. It isn't a mystery that only a personal trainer can unlock. He's been on doing this for awhile now.

 

[Ranching]

Several Dallas area sports radio guys (Bob Sturm and Jake Kemp specifically) have been chatting quite a bit lately about the Cowboys cutting Zeke at the end of this season, and just taking the cap hit now. Before everyone screams “Can’t do it!”, look at the details of Zeke’s contract as lined out on Spotrac.com: https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/dallas-cowboys/ezekiel-elliott-18952/

I would argue that if this team’s is going to get better faster, we need to get rid of Zeke and his 3.8 ypc and 60 something yards a game, and draft a good young RB out of college with a mid round pick (and a rookie contract) to tandem with Pollard. Cut Zeke as a post June 1 cut, unless some other team is willing to trade for him (which won’t happen).

Here are the reasons:

• Keeping Zeke and the big contract is not the future. It’s the past. Sure it would give us some dead money to deal with but his signing was a mistake to begin with. Cut him at the end of the season and deal with the mistake instead of prolonging it. If this team is rebuilding, you have to suffer some to get better.
• His production continues to drop every year. Sure he hasn’t had a good line this year, but his per game yardage and per carry yards have continued to decline year after year.
  
• He’s lost his dynamic playmaking ability. He hasn’t had a run over 40 yards since his rookie year. Compare that to Derrick Henry who has had 9 runs over 40 yards since his rookie year. Two over 90 yards. Zeke may have taken too much punishment or had too big a load, but whatever the reason, he’s not that special anymore.

I know this will not be a popular opinion. And I know the dead money issue is real. But this team’s future is going to be all about drafting younger, cheaper talent, not keeping declining stars with big contracts. This team is not a player or two away from being relevant.

And for fans who think this would be stupid, I understand that argument. Maybe. But don’t worry. Because this front office won’t make bold moves like this because they are still buried in the delusion that “this roster is close” to being really good. No it isn’t. And won’t be until they recognize it needs a complete overhaul.

Why cut him and pay him his salary for not playing. He'd be a lot better with Dak and a solid line in front of him. Doesn't make sense to me.

 

[RonnieT24]

USA Today predictions, Sept 2016:

“Dallas Cowboys (5-11): As exciting as RB Ezekiel Elliott and QB Dak Prescott are, it's unfair to ask two rookies to carry a team already stripped of defensive talent by suspensions. QB Tony Romo may not return in time to give Dallas a viable shot to reach January.”
​

Pete Prisco of CBS Sports 2016 predictions:

• The Cowboys are the only NFC East team that does not receive a last-place vote, but only three experts (Jason La Canfora, Jared Dubin, Ryan Wilson) have them going to the playoffs.

ESPN picked the giants to win the East in 2016.

So, yeah, we have come from nowhere to somewhere with a good draft.

Good stuff.. but truth be told I was referring more to the faithful than to the "eggspurts." I know I was pretty high on that team that year. I went to see them in a preseason game that year and came away very impressed with Dak's poise and overall leadership and our speed on defense. I really thought the accounts of our demise were overblown. If the old site was still up I'm sure I could find my posts where I had us winning at least 11 games that year. LOL!

 

[Ranching]

Zeke has fallen off hard. I don't think it's physical though. I think his head is not right for whatever reason, which gives me hope that he can turn it around. That said, he is not worth the money he's being paid so...

He's not worth the money, but he'll get paid anyway.

 

[aria]

I don't think they fully know the impact the virus had on him. No one does. Including him. And the recovery might not be complete until next year..

are you related to the ewok? let’s see a picture, I’ll be able to tell in about half the time it takes zeke to get to the buffet in Cabo where he goes to have his diapers changed.

 

[gjkoeppen]

Lots of other teams have done that and done ok. Why are we different? Rams cut Gurley. Chiefs cut Eric Berry, eating a ton of cash. And they won a SB two years later.

Here's the HUGE difference. For both players the cap went up following their release which helped the sting of the dead money. This year or if cut after the new league starts the teams already know the cap will be LESS making any dead money HURT that much more. BTW Berry was released in March of 2019, the SAME season the chiefs won that Super Bowl not TWO years later.
.
.

 

[RonnieT24]

Much of that 2 1/2 months before the season started would have been on his own, yes, but presumably athletes were preparing for the season. They are all expected to work on it before ever coming to training camp, and if Zeke wasn't someone should kick him in the ***. At Zeke's age, and with his experience as an athlete, including in the NFL the last 5 years, he knows what it takes to get in shape. It isn't a mystery that only a personal trainer can unlock.

In a normal offseason yes, but one in which he had a disease that has killed over a million people and almost killed another million I think just acting like he had a bad cold and should just shake it off is not logical. Again there is still a bunch we don't know about this disease and it's medium to long term effects. But we know more today than we did 4-5 months ago when Zeke had it. Calling what it takes to prepare for an NFL season "getting in shape" is a gross oversimplification IMHO. You have to prepare your body to survive 75-80 car wrecks every week for 16 weeks. A 24 year old kid who caught it and fought through it had no idea what it did to his body.. because even his doctors could not tell him exactly what it did to him. Again I am just speculating.. I obviously have no advanced knowledge of what Zeke went through and how the disease affected him or is still affecting him now. I have some limited experience of training at a relatively high level for competitive track and field and how any injury or illness set me back. But as is rightfully pointed out, I didn't have NFL doctors and trainers tending to me.. And for about 4 months. neither did Zeke.. I think he felt like he had done enough to get ready for the season.. But the results say maybe he didn't. Rather than call him fat lazy and overpaid I watch him plow his body into 1200 pounds of humanity every Sunday without any regard for himself and think that can't be it. I know how much it hurts to do what he does.. You don't do that if you're "mentally checked out" as some suggest. As such I am more inclined to believe he's going through something with his body that he doesn't yet have a handle on. And Covid is one of a number of logical explanations. No we cannot rule out that he is already experiencing what I call "Earl Campbell syndrome" from his workload. But as I've stated before .. I read and heard a lot of the same noise about Emmitt at about this same point in his career. "Not the same back.. lacks burst... used up..." All Emmitt did was rush for another 10,000 yards and 80 TDs after he was allegedly washed. So that moves me to wait a bit before moving on from Zeke.

 

[Bobhaze]

In a normal offseason yes, but one in which he had a disease that has killed over a million people and almost killed another million I think just acting like he had a bad cold and should just shake it off is not logical. Again there is still a bunch we don't know about this disease and it's medium to long term effects. But we know more today than we did 4-5 months ago when Zeke had it. Calling what it takes to prepare for an NFL season "getting in shape" is a gross oversimplification IMHO. You have to prepare your body to survive 75-80 car wrecks every week for 16 weeks. A 24 year old kid who caught it and fought through it had no idea what it did to his body.. because even his doctors could not tell him exactly what it did to him. Again I am just speculating.. I obviously have no advanced knowledge of what Zeke went through and how the disease affected him or is still affecting him now. I have some limited experience of training at a relatively high level for competitive track and field and how any injury or illness set me back. But as is rightfully pointed out, I didn't have NFL doctors and trainers tending to me.. And for about 4 months. neither did Zeke.. I think he felt like he had done enough to get ready for the season.. But the results say maybe he didn't. Rather than call him fat lazy and overpaid I watch him plow his body into 1200 pounds of humanity every Sunday without any regard for himself and think that can't be it. I know how much it hurts to do what he does.. You don't do that if you're "mentally checked out" as some suggest. As such I am more inclined to believe he's going through something with his body that he doesn't yet have a handle on. And Covid is one of a number of logical explanations. No we cannot rule out that he is already experiencing what I call "Earl Campbell syndrome" from his workload. But as I've stated before .. I read and heard a lot of the same noise about Emmitt at about this same point in his career. "Not the same back.. lacks burst... used up..." All Emmitt did was rush for another 10,000 yards and 80 TDs after he was allegedly washed. So that moves me to wait a bit before moving on from Zeke.

Sorry man. Zeke is no Emmitt.

 

[superonyx]

Here are some teams that have recently cut big contracts and taken the dead money hit.

• The chiefs- cut Eric Berry and his big contract in 2018, taking a $8 mil cap hit.
• The Vikings cut Stefan Diggs, taking a $9 mil cap hit.
• The Rams- cut Todd Gurley and took an $11 million cap hit.

There are more than I have time to list. I understand why you say this is “illogical” for cap reasons. But it was an illogical contract to begin with.

The contract being illogical from the start doesnt make it any worse to now cut the play, take a huge cap hit, need to waste resources repairing a hole you just blew in your roster.

Explain to me how we are any better by having less draft resources and less salary cap room?
Just because you don't like a player doesnt win us game.

It's pretty obvious how this idea hurts us. Explain how it help us.

 

[Pantone282C]

Exactly, we're not winning the SB this year. Even if we some how make the playoffs despite our predicament, we're not going anywhere. So let the backups play. Not the whole game, but just for a bit. If we go the whole game, it'd create suspicion.

Make some people sweat a bit.

 

[Cowfan75]

I can't believe some people are suggesting COVID is the reason Zeke is slow, unmotivated, and begins his dive before even getting tackled. The culture of excuses has poisoned more than the team. Next it will be floated that Jaylon is being affected by the alignment of the planets.

 

[Blackspider214]

and fumbles and drops passes like nobody else

He seems so lazy and lethargic. Makes no effort to secure the ball. Going through the motions. I absolutely loved Zeke his first 2 years here. Now, I despise seeing him on the field. Knowing he swindled us into paying $90million for this garbage.

Jaylon Smith and Tyron Crawford swindled Jerry as well.

 

[Ken]

This is a move the Patriots do....we won't do it. We will run him until the wheels come off entirely...which looks like it already happened to me.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Twitter: Zeke's exit may need to happen sooner than later

I know this will not be a popular opinion.

As usual you are spot on. But where I think your wrong is what the take "I know this will not be a popular opinion."

I think you will find it is a very popular opinion.

 

[kumizi]

fact: He's not a good player anymore.

cons to cutting: It's really gonna hurt financially next year. You could still split carries 50/50 with Zeke and Pollard next year. You aren't a Super Bowl contender next year anyway.

pros to cutting: If you want to change the culture and move on from underperforming bums, it's time to cut Zeke and Jaylon.

 

[fivetwos]

Theres a LARGE difference between a dead money cap situation and where the following seasons salary is guaranteed already. That's cash they would need to pay for him to not play.

AND.....if you dont eat that situation, his 2022 money will also kick in.

Awful structure, I've already gone nuts over it.

This is what these two do. They know best.

 

[aikemirv]

Several Dallas area sports radio guys (Bob Sturm and Jake Kemp specifically) have been chatting quite a bit lately about the Cowboys cutting Zeke at the end of this season, and just taking the cap hit now. Before everyone screams “Can’t do it!”, look at the details of Zeke’s contract as lined out on Spotrac.com: https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/dallas-cowboys/ezekiel-elliott-18952/

I would argue that if this team’s is going to get better faster, we need to get rid of Zeke and his 3.8 ypc and 60 something yards a game, and draft a good young RB out of college with a mid round pick (and a rookie contract) to tandem with Pollard. Cut Zeke as a post June 1 cut, unless some other team is willing to trade for him (which won’t happen).

Here are the reasons:

• Keeping Zeke and the big contract is not the future. It’s the past. Sure it would give us some dead money to deal with but his signing was a mistake to begin with. Cut him at the end of the season and deal with the mistake instead of prolonging it. If this team is rebuilding, you have to suffer some to get better.
• His production continues to drop every year. Sure he hasn’t had a good line this year, but his per game yardage and per carry yards have continued to decline year after year.
  
• He’s lost his dynamic playmaking ability. He hasn’t had a run over 40 yards since his rookie year. Compare that to Derrick Henry who has had 9 runs over 40 yards since his rookie year. Two over 90 yards. Zeke may have taken too much punishment or had too big a load, but whatever the reason, he’s not that special anymore.

I know this will not be a popular opinion. And I know the dead money issue is real. But this team’s future is going to be all about drafting younger, cheaper talent, not keeping declining stars with big contracts. This team is not a player or two away from being relevant.

And for fans who think this would be stupid, I understand that argument. Maybe. But don’t worry. Because this front office won’t make bold moves like this because they are still buried in the delusion that “this roster is close” to being really good. No it isn’t. And won’t be until they recognize it needs a complete overhaul.

I don't think you can handle the dead cap hit if you plan on signing Dak.

 

[OmerV]

In a normal offseason yes, but one in which he had a disease that has killed over a million people and almost killed another million I think just acting like he had a bad cold and should just shake it off is not logical. Again there is still a bunch we don't know about this disease and it's medium to long term effects. But we know more today than we did 4-5 months ago when Zeke had it. Calling what it takes to prepare for an NFL season "getting in shape" is a gross oversimplification IMHO. You have to prepare your body to survive 75-80 car wrecks every week for 16 weeks. A 24 year old kid who caught it and fought through it had no idea what it did to his body.. because even his doctors could not tell him exactly what it did to him. Again I am just speculating.. I obviously have no advanced knowledge of what Zeke went through and how the disease affected him or is still affecting him now. I have some limited experience of training at a relatively high level for competitive track and field and how any injury or illness set me back. But as is rightfully pointed out, I didn't have NFL doctors and trainers tending to me.. And for about 4 months. neither did Zeke.. I think he felt like he had done enough to get ready for the season.. But the results say maybe he didn't. Rather than call him fat lazy and overpaid I watch him plow his body into 1200 pounds of humanity every Sunday without any regard for himself and think that can't be it. I know how much it hurts to do what he does.. You don't do that if you're "mentally checked out" as some suggest. As such I am more inclined to believe he's going through something with his body that he doesn't yet have a handle on. And Covid is one of a number of logical explanations. No we cannot rule out that he is already experiencing what I call "Earl Campbell syndrome" from his workload. But as I've stated before .. I read and heard a lot of the same noise about Emmitt at about this same point in his career. "Not the same back.. lacks burst... used up..." All Emmitt did was rush for another 10,000 yards and 80 TDs after he was allegedly washed. So that moves me to wait a bit before moving on from Zeke.

1 million is only 0.00013 of the population, and it didn't kill him or even make him sick enough to worry about death as even an outside concern, so that's not really relevant. Hell, for most 25 year olds it isn't much worse than a case of the flu, especially one as strong and healthy as a pro football player, and we never got any indication Covid knocked him down worse than usual for a person in that situation.

Now, I will accept that we can't say for sure what longer effects could linger, but I also know players have missed a couple of weeks after testing positive and are back playing immediately after, so that makes it a little hard to believe that Zeke playing 4 months after is a problem.

At the end of the day, if the team and team doctors indicate some lingering effect, or Zeke tells us he doesn't feel like he fully recovered, then there is something to discuss. Otherwise it's just unfounded speculation.