Cowboys’ Ezekiel Elliott passes Rams’ Todd Gurley as NFL’s highest-paid RB

[CGI_Ram]

Cowboys reportedly don't view Ezekiel Elliott contract as close, but that's only half of the story

If your head is spinning when it comes to Elliott's holdout, you're not alone, but here's the whole story

www.cbssports.com

Cowboys reportedly don't view Ezekiel Elliott contract as close, but that's only half of the story

Choose your side, folks. In what has become an all-out war for the attention of the media, the holdout of Ezekiel Elliott continues to dominate headlines as he finalizes a new deal with the Dallas Cowboys.

It's all become a battle of narratives at this point, and there's no winner in that part of the contest. The team fires up their first practice of Week 1 on Monday morning, and they hoped to have Elliott in the building when it got underway. The front office had fruitful conversations with Elliott's reps over the weekend, so much so that sources tell me everyone sees eye-to-eye on the money aspect of the contract.

The only thing that remains to be ironed out is the structure of how the cash will be paid out, and that's the only aspect left that could potentially sideline the discussion. There remains a strong chance Elliott walks into the team's headquarters in Frisco come Monday afternoon or at some point on Tuesday, the latter being an off day for the Cowboys before they begin their second practice on Wednesday. Still, and understandably so, the team is reportedly frustrated after not getting a definitive "yes" from Elliott on Sunday afternoon following positive talks on Saturday.

That's led to new reports that the Cowboys suddenly don't feel anything is close, which is contrary to the tone of talks over the past two days.


View: https://twitter.com/slaternfl/status/1168526920109178881?s=21


Of course, there are two sides to every coin, and things look precipitously different when you flip this penny over.


View: https://twitter.com/mikelesliewfaa/status/1168531652483567621?s=21


So, what's the truth?

Well, honestly, it's in the eye of the beholder.

The bottom line here is talks are not far apart at all, despite how the team feels at the moment. The frustrated tone of the Cowboys has driven them back to their initial stance that characterizes the deal as not nearing completion, but if that were wholly true, they wouldn't have been so pleased with how things went earlier in the weekend. For contrast, Elliott's side isn't carrying a pessimistic tone, by all accounts. Theirs is infinitely more optimistic that an announcement will come soon. With the deal currently on the table and only the minutia to be worked out, the overall framing of how things will ultimately end should continue to remain positive.

When will Elliott report, and what will the final deal look like?

Those are answers we'll all soon have, but until then, steady your tolerances against the constant penny flips. It was only four short months ago that this same media battle took place in the talks with defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, before his five-year, $105 million extension seemingly came out of left field -- lest everyone forget. Team executive Stephen Jones recently noted how deals can get done in an instant once they approach the midnight hour, and owner Jerry Jones is infamous for coining the phrase "deadlines make deals".

And so here we are, watching the last hiccup on a deal that will inevitably get done.

 

[oldnotdead]

Yeah Zeke keep letting your ego lock you up into a losing situation. He will never get back the millions he's going to lose this year by not accepting a slotted contract and what he will lose in game checks. He's got to return by the 11th game to get credit for the year. Then it starts all over again because the Cowboys control him through 2020.

Zeke's contract pays him $7.9M this year and would pay him about $9.1M next year. That's $16M over two years. That 2 year average would put him around the 4th highest paid RB in the NFL without doing anything contractually. By the time he gets paid his 5th year option year, he would have made, $33.5M for the 5 years. It's hard to cry for a guy who made that kind of money over 5 years, and that doesn't count endorsements. He could quit in 2021 and live large the rest of his life.

Gordon is even dumber. He wants Todd Gurley money but he's no where near the player Todd is. Gurley is injury prone but still is a major force on the field when he plays. Gordon is equally injury prone but doesn't have anywhere near the same production. Gordon like Zeke must report by the 11th game to get credit for the year.

If you wanted to slot Gordon his contract would be similar to Devonta Freeman's based upon production. He's playing on a 5 year $41.2M contract with $22M guaranteed. Again it's all about the guaranteed money. Gordon is foolish to sit out. He should have accepted the Chargers base offer but on a shorter contract with slightly more prorated money guaranteed or simply play out this year on the $5M which isn't exactly chump change to most people in the world. Or he could have accepted whatever the Chargers were offering. His agent is a fool as he could have leveraged more guaranteed money than Freeman and that's all that mattered. But Gordon's ego wouldn't allow him to accept less than Bell or Gurley despite his production to be the same as Freeman.

I think it should be a law that all these spoiled athletes flip burgers for a year so they understand the value of a dollar. My prediction is Gordon will ultimately lose money both short term and long term. No team is going to pay what he thinks he's worth and no team is going to sign him long term being labeled a malcontent.

With these guys its all about ego, reality be damned.

 

[Legatron4]

Ohhhh I hope Elliott holds out. I drafted Pollard lol

 

[tempests]

View: https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/1168956276723912704?s=20

 

[Jacobarch]

I learned a long time ago to never draft a Cowboy on your fantasy team.

I know people bitch about the owners/CBA, and I know people bitch about players greed costing them in the long run.

Problem is greed on both ends. Owners not willing to pay their players who have outplayed their contracts and players being overly prideful and not signing because they aren't the highest paid player at their respectable position.

 

[Loyal]

Ezekiel Elliot just signed a 6 year, $90 million extension....He will be sigbed untile he is 32 years old

 

[Loyal]

View: https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/1169204483412365312?s=20

 

[kurtfaulk]

.

there's no way he can play to that level for 6 years with his workload. there's probably an out after 3 years.

.

 

[Loyal]

.

there's no way he can play to that level for 6 years with his workload. there's probably an out after 3 years.

.

.

there's no way he can play to that level for 6 years with his workload. there's probably an out after 3 years.

.

This is an extension. He will be a Cowboy for 8 more years...If he fell off a cliff after 3 years, I will laugh my ass off! SOSAC (Same ole Sorry Assed Cowgirls!)

 

[Flint]

After hearing about this nonstop for the past 2 weeks, the deal finally gets done. Glad that’s over, but wait, now that Goff has signed, what about Dak? I’ve heard, and I’m sure not for the last time, that Dak is every bit as good as Goff. That doesn’t really matter as much as sports talk guys like to make an issue of it. Was Cousins the best qb in the league when he got paid, was Wentz, is Goff? He’s just the next guy in line and although most people would put him 3rd behind Wentz and Goff he’s going to make as much or more as they do.

 

[Loyal]

Well, Cowboy's fans are happy..

View: https://twitter.com/NFL_Memes/status/1169269544994648064?s=20

 

[IE Rams]

Jerruh still ain't gettin no Supa Bow

 

[BonifayRam]

Cowboys’ Ezekiel Elliott passes Rams’ Todd Gurley as NFL’s highest-paid RB, report says

Dallas star reportedly agrees to a new deal, with $50 million guaranteed, to end a holdout that lasted the entire preseason and just days before Sunday’s opener against the New York Giants.

www.ocregister.com

 

[CGI_Ram]

Opinion: Dallas Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott got paid while owner Jerry Jones got played

From the moment the Dallas Cowboys made him the fourth overall pick in the 2016 draft, Ezekiel Elliott has had all of the leverage with the Cowboys.

www.usatoday.com

Opinion: Dallas Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott got paid while owner Jerry Jones got played

Well, this was a colossal waste of everybody’s time.

Ezekiel Elliott has a new extension worth $90 million over six years and likely will be in uniform for the Dallas Cowboys when their season begins Sunday, as pretty much everybody has predicted from the moment this nonsense started. There was never any way the Cowboys were going to go too far into the season without their star running back, no matter what Jerry Jones tried to say.

"Most of these teams win Super Bowls without rushing champions," the Cowboys owner said last month during an interview with 105.3 The Fan in Dallas. "Secondly, we've had (Elliott) going on three or four years and we haven't won it yet. So we've got to figure out that obviously he's not the ingredient that will win it."

Sure.

From the moment Dallas made him the fourth overall pick in the 2016 draft, Elliott has had all of the leverage with the Cowboys. He’s only solidified that with his numbers these last three years, leading the NFL in yards per game each season, and touches and total yards rushing in two of the three years.

If not for that six-game suspension in 2017, Elliott would have hit the trifecta in each of his first three years.

Dak Prescott has established himself as one of the league’s best young quarterbacks, and his play will be a large factor in whether the Cowboys can make a deep playoff run this year. But the Dallas offense is built around Elliott, with his 25-plus touches a game, and, Jones’ attempts at spin aside, the Cowboys don’t have a comparable understudy on their roster.

It’s worth noting, too, that the Cowboys have made the playoffs in two of the last three seasons. The one time they didn’t? The year Elliott was suspended and didn’t play a full season. Don't think that that was lost on Jones, who is obsessed with seeing his team back in the Super Bowl.

The Cowboys were going to have to pay Elliott, and they were going to have to do it sooner rather than later, what with games against division rivals the first two weeks of the season and the New Orleans Saints and the Green Bay Packers looming not long after.

It’s a truism of the NFL that running backs are expendable, and not the position where you invest your money. The workload is too heavy, the injuries too frequent. It’s why the Los Angeles Chargers are willing to send Melvin Gordon away, and why the Pittsburgh Steelers let Le’Veon Bell walk.

But Dallas never had that luxury, and everyone but Jones knew it. Elliott is too vital to the Cowboys, and they might as well have kissed their season goodbye if he’d spent any more time on the beach in Cabo.

As it is, Jones was reckless in letting this play out as long as it did. Elliott knows the offense and he knows his teammates, and getting him familiar with changes to the playbook before Sunday won’t be an issue. If his time in Cabo during his suspension is any guide, he wasn't lazing in the sun and sipping margaritas like a typical tourist, and likely showed up to the Cowboys’ facility Wednesday morning ready to play.

That said, if he twists an ankle or sprains a knee in his first few weeks back, that’ll be on Jones. You can hear the pundits now.

“Had Elliott been with the Cowboys for the entire training camp …”

Maybe Jones was hoping to save a few bucks. Maybe he was trying to send a message to Elliott, who has had more than his share of off-the-field issues.

Whatever his reasoning, it didn’t work. The Cowboys need Elliott more than he needs them, and everybody recognized that.

Elliott got paid, and Jones got played.

 

[jap]

... but, but, but Zeke just plain hasn't been as good as the Gurley Express! I mean, no one else has been that damn good!!

 

[Merlin]

Jerruh didn't have a choice. He would have looked like a fool marching that team out there without Zeke because of his ego. Smart call to get that done IMO.