News: Zeke's swan song season

[Flamma]

I remember being FURIOUS that he got a huge extension with TWO YEARS remaining, but then I got over it, because what else can WE do? Just another sign that players are getting more selfish and entitled every year. Hate being the “surly old guy”, but DANG, I miss the old days!

I see a lot of this. What difference does the "two years" part make? His extension didn't start until 2021. Khalil Mack and Aaron Donald threatened holdouts with two years left on their contracts too. One got paid and the other was sent packing.

 

[Flamma]

This may surprise you but we agree on this. If the Cowboys aren't going to run an offense that leans on a bell cow running back then they don't need to be paying for one and Zeke doesn't need to be getting 12-13 carries a game. It's a waste of money and a waste of talent. If this is what the Cowboys want to do they should part ways with Zeke as soon as it's feasible. It's the best thing for both parties.

I'm not so sure about this. I'm saying this just from a cap standpoint. Zeke is an 11M cap hit next year at best, no matter what they do. If he absolutely sucks this year, I can see them moving on. But if he doesn't, you think they should release him to save 4.8 million in cap space? Because that's what we're looking at. Is he worth 4.8M?

 

[ESisback]

I see a lot of this. What difference does the "two years" part make? His extension didn't start until 2021. Khalil Mack and Aaron Donald threatened holdouts with two years left on their contracts too. One got paid and the other was sent packing.

I was against those, too. Honor your contract!

 

[RonnieT24]

I'm not so sure about this. I'm saying this just from a cap standpoint. Zeke is an 11M cap hit next year at best, no matter what they do. If he absolutely sucks this year, I can see them moving on. But if he doesn't, you think they should release him to save 4.8 million in cap space? Because that's what we're looking at. Is he worth 4.8M?

To me it's not about what he's worth.. It's about his being a bad fit in the offense Moore wants to run. As long as that remains the case they shouldn't keep him at almost any price. I don't think he will "absolutely suck" this year unless he gets hurt. But if he's only getting the ball 12-13 times a game then his ability to do what this offense needs him for are greatly diminished. He's not wearing the defense down with that few carries.. He's not eating up the clock.. He's just providing the body blows while the passing game takes the head shots. That can work, but that's not what they brought him here for nor what they signed him to a 90 million dollar contract for.

 

[RonnieT24]

I was against those, too. Honor your contract!

Why do the players have to honor their contracts but the teams can cut them at any point? That makes no sense to me. If a team can jettison a player whenever they deem him to be underperforming his paygrade then why can't the player demand a raise when he exceeds it?

 

[Flamma]

I was against those, too. Honor your contract!

That was my point, what part of his contract did he not honor? He still played his 5 year rookie deal, as did the others. He was holding out for an extension in the future. Not a contract renegotiation.

But either way, the new CBA makes that very difficult now.

 

[Flamma]

Why do the players have to honor their contracts but the teams can cut them at any point? That makes no sense to me. If a team can jettison a player whenever they deem him to be underperforming his paygrade then why can't the player demand a raise when he exceeds it?

You're missing the point too. Zeke didn't demand a raise.

 

[ESisback]

Why do the players have to honor their contracts but the teams can cut them at any point? That makes no sense to me. If a team can jettison a player whenever they deem him to be underperforming his paygrade then why can't the player demand a raise when he exceeds it?

Why sign contracts if they don’t mean anything? Screw loyalty, honoring promises, etc. Hard for many of us to sympathize with guys making millions playing ball, when Joe Shmoe makes a tiny fraction of that, eating poopy at a McJob he hates, while rich people get richer.

 

[Sydla]

This may surprise you but we agree on this. If the Cowboys aren't going to run an offense that leans on a bell cow running back then they don't need to be paying for one and Zeke doesn't need to be getting 12-13 carries a game. It's a waste of money and a waste of talent. If this is what the Cowboys want to do they should part ways with Zeke as soon as it's feasible. It's the best thing for both parties.

The problem is that the league isn't really using the bell cow anymore. The teams that do, like Tennessee, already have backs as good if not better than Zeke. It's going to be hard for Zeke to find a team, in today's game, that's going to pay him and give him 22-24 carries a game.

 

[RonnieT24]

You're missing the point too. Zeke didn't demand a raise.

Oh yes he did.. the extension he signed out of the holdout took his annual salary from roughly 6 million a year to 15 million a year.. Seems like a raise to me..

 

[Sydla]

I'm not so sure about this. I'm saying this just from a cap standpoint. Zeke is an 11M cap hit next year at best, no matter what they do. If he absolutely sucks this year, I can see them moving on. But if he doesn't, you think they should release him to save 4.8 million in cap space? Because that's what we're looking at. Is he worth 4.8M?

Cowboys are $12 million over the cap. Even if they roll over every penny of cap space they have now, they still would only have like $5 million. So restructures and cuts are coming. $4.9 million is a big help to a cap strapped team. Further, they could designate him June 1 cut and save nearly $11 million in cap space.

 

[ESisback]

You're missing the point too. Zeke didn't demand a raise.

Someone did! Jerry didn’t just suddenly think “wow, I need to spend millions more, right now!”

Rich people don’t get richer if they just give it away.

 

[RonnieT24]

The problem is that the league isn't really using the bell cow anymore. The teams that do, like Tennessee, already have backs as good if not better than Zeke. It's going to be hard for Zeke to find a team, in today's game, that's going to pay him and give him 22-24 carries a game.

I didn't say there were 30 teams that would be lining up to sign Zeke if the Cowboys cut him.. but the number won't b e zero either. There are quite a few teams with young QBs who would LOVE to have a 20 carry back for the kid to lean on while he learns. If I get time I will look up those teams and analyze why I think they might be interested in Zeke.

 

[ESisback]

That was my point, what part of his contract did he not honor? He still played his 5 year rookie deal, as did the others. He was holding out for an extension in the future. Not a contract renegotiation.

But either way, the new CBA makes that very difficult now.

So holdout in the future if you don’t get an extension! If you’re worth it, SOMEBODY will pay!

 

[Flamma]

Oh yes he did.. the extension he signed out of the holdout took his annual salary from roughly 6 million a year to 15 million a year.. Seems like a raise to me..

This is the problem, and I've been noticing this a lot. People think Zeke wanted more money and didn't want to play for what he was getting paid. That's not what happened.

Zeke got his extension after his 3rd year. After the 2018 season. His extension didn't start until 2021. He still had to play out his two remaining years for what the contract paid him. What he did get up front is his 7.5M dollar signing bonus. But that's it. The rest was guaranteed money in the future. Not a raise.

 

[ESisback]

This is the problem, and I've been noticing this a lot. People think Zeke wanted more money and didn't want to play for what he was getting paid. That's not what happened.

Zeke got his extension after his 3rd year. After the 2018 season. His extension didn't start until 2021. He still had to play out his two remaining years for what the contract paid him. What he did get up front is his 7.5M dollar signing bonus. But that's it. The rest was guaranteed money in the future. Not a raise.

Even by those terms, he got 7.5 million more (a raise)!

 

[Flamma]

Someone did! Jerry didn’t just suddenly think “wow, I need to spend millions more, right now!”

Rich people don’t get richer if they just give it away.

Again, he didn't spend millions more, right now. Zeke's extension didn't start until 2021. So if by right now you meant, 3 years later, then ok.

 

[Flamma]

Even by those terms, he got 7.5 million more (a raise)!

That's called a signing bonus. Literally every player in the league gets the same exact thing when they sign an extension.

 

[RonnieT24]

This is the problem, and I've been noticing this a lot. People think Zeke wanted more money and didn't want to play for what he was getting paid. That's not what happened.

Zeke got his extension after his 3rd year. After the 2018 season. His extension didn't start until 2021. He still had to play out his two remaining years for what the contract paid him. What he did get up front is his 7.5M dollar signing bonus. But that's it. The rest was guaranteed money in the future. Not a raise.

You're arguing semantics here and not very well. If he didn't want a raise why didn't he simply get an extension that continued to pay him 6 mil a year?
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drumroll please
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because he wanted a raise.

And he knew that if he did not get the money when he did the Cowboys were going to ride the hell out of him for two more years and kick him to the scrapheap without his ever having gotten the big deal contract his play warranted at the time. Again if the Cowboys had known at that time that they were going to turn the reigns of the offense over to a guy who never saw a down that didn't look like a passing down to him then they absolutely should NOT have signed the deal. But hindsight is always 20/20.

 

[ESisback]

That's called a signing bonus. Literally every player in the league gets the same exact thing when they sign an extension.

Whatever you wanna call it, it’s more money!