Getty Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott
The Dallas Cowboys have reportedly made an offer that would make disgruntled running back Ezekiel Elliott the second highest paid running back in the league.
If that’s the case, Cleveland Browns legend, podcaster and NFL analyst Joe Thomas believes Zeke shouldn’t even answer the call.
“If I am Zeke, and the Cowboys send me an offer anything less or equal to Todd Gurley, it’s going straight to voicemail,” Thomas wrote. “They can’t honestly think he would accept anything less than to be the highest paid running back. It’s just an insult to even start anywhere below that number.”
Thomas later expanded on his take.
“Throughout the course of NFL history, if you are the best player at your position (or clearly one of the best) when you re-sign a second contract with the team that drafted you, you usually beat the highest paid current contract at your position by 15 to 20 percent,” Thomas wrote. “There is a valid argument to be made, that because of Zeke’s suspension and off the field issues, his value should be reduced, so even if you reduce the value a little bit, he should still beat the Gurley contract by 5%.”
Throughout the course of NFL history, if you are the best player at your position (or clearly one of the best) when you re-sign a second contract with the team that drafted you, you usually beat the highest paid current contract at your position by 15 to 20%.
Elliott retweeted Thomas, showing that he agreed and might have his finger on the ignore button.
Thomas is a future Hall of Fame offensive tackle, being named as a first-team All-Pro pick seven times and making the Pro Bowl in 10 of his 11 years with the Cleveland Browns.
Cowboys Reportedly Offer Ezekiel Elliott Massive Deal
A report surfaced on Thursday from ESPN’s Ed Werder on Thursday that the Cowboys had a deal on the table to make Zeke the second highest paid RB in the league.
“The most recent offer in negotiations between holdout Ezekiel Elliott and the Cowboys came from the team. Elliott has been offered a contract making him one of the NFL’s 2 highest-paid RB. That would suggest team offering more than LeVeon Bell and less than Todd Gurley.”
Elliott is scheduled to make a base salary of $3.8 million this season and $9.09 million in 2020. Todd Gurley (four years, $57.5 million) and Le’Veon Bell (four years, $52.5 million) are the league’s top two backs, so the deal would land between those two numbers.
Sources: The most recent offer in negotiations between holdout Ezekiel Elliott and the Cowboys came from the team. Elliott has been offered a contract making him one of the NFL’s 2 highest-paid RB. That would suggest team offering more than LeVeon Bell and less than Todd Gurley.
The Cowboys have not been shy about feeding Zeke a massive amount, which is a large part why the Ohio State product wants a long-term deal. Last year, Elliott had a monster workload, with 304 rushes — 43 more than any other player — to go with 77 catches, collecting 2,001 yards from scrimmage. He’s led the league in rushing in two of his three seasons.
Cowboys Extend LB Jaylon Smith, Jerry Jones Says ‘There is Less Pie Left ‘
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
Earlier this week, Dallas handed out a surprise extension to a member of the defense.
Linebacker Jaylon Smith inked a lucrative extension that will keep him with the team long-term. The five-year contract extension is worth $64 million with $35.5 million guaranteed, according to Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was very deliberate with what he said when the deal for Smith was announced.
“It is neat that Jaylon understands that when you have a solid roster and you have as many high-quality young players that we have, you have to allocate your resources wisely to keep and have all those players,” Jerry Jones said. “That’s called team building, and I will assure you that this was about team. It certainly was beneficial to Jaylon but I can assure you this was about team. Our goals are to build the best team and it takes cooperation from both parties when you are doing agreements. He’s worth 1,000 words of anything we can say about contracts and the Dallas Cowboys.”
He later added: “There is less pie left, make no bones about it.”
The Cowboys kick off their season on Sept. 8 at home against the New York Giants. A previous report on Thursday claimed that Elliott would have a deal done by then and be ready to go for the opener.
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