Cowboys' Ellis should drop deal talk
10:23 PM CDT on Monday, June 11, 2007
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IRVING – A year ago, Greg Ellis had every right to rip the Cowboys.
The team moved the veteran defensive end to linebacker in a transparent
attempt to reduce his role and hasten his departure, so Ellis demanded a
restructured contract as a sign of good faith.
This year, he shouldn't complain about his deal, which has three years
left on it.
It doesn't make good business sense for the club to give a 31-year-old
player coming off a ruptured Achilles' tendon a new deal with a huge
signing bonus. Especially when the team just used a first-round pick on
his eventual replacement.
Ellis, the consummate professional, won't like that, but it's the truth.
You know it. I know it.
Ellis and his agent know it, too, although they're entitled to disagree.
See, Ellis' complaints aren't really about money – he has plenty of
that – they're about respect.
That's the NFL way. You show a player how much you respect him by the
number of zeros you place at the end of his signing bonus.
For the Cowboys, this is strictly about dollars and cents. And history.
The Cowboys went through salary-cap problems that crippled the franchise
for several years at the start of this decade, in part because Jerry
Jones gave many of his former stars lucrative contracts he knew they
would never fulfill.
He is understandably determined not to let that happen again.
So Ellis can demand a trade or his release, as my mama used to say,
"until the cows come home," and it's not going to happen.
Here's why: First, he has no leverage. Hold out of camp and the Cowboys
will fine him a chunk of cash every day that he misses.
Second, Ellis has too much character to do what it takes – skip
training camp and perhaps some of the regular season – to force the
Cowboys to let him go.
Third, no one sympathizes with a professional athlete making $2.5
million per year, when gas is nearly $3 a gallon and people are
struggling to pay their bills.
That's why Jones is content to let Ellis complain without any fear that
the veteran won't ultimately be a key member of the Cowboys. After all,
Ellis and DeMarcus Ware are the team's only proven pass rushers.
You can't find a coach on the defensive staff with anything bad to say
about Ellis. To a man, they say he will start and have an integral role.
Ellis is continuing to recover from a ruptured Achilles' tendon he
suffered last October. At the Cowboys' recently-completed minicamp,
Ellis made it clear that he wasn't going to play until he was 100
percent because the team isn't looking out for his best interests.
A conspiracy theorist might suggest Ellis was making a veiled threat to
use his injury as an excuse not to play. Actually, that's not a bad
negotiating ploy, but history suggests Ellis has too much character to
do that.
He loves the game. It hurts him more than most when the Cowboys lose.
Too many times, I've seen him sitting at his locker wearing a sweaty
grass-and-blood-
stained jersey, mourning a loss nearly an hour after the
game ended.
Ellis has been an important member of the Cowboys during the turbulence
of the last decade. He's one of the few players Jones has been able to
count on to deliver a quality performance though good times and bad.
He sets a great example for the younger players on the practice field
and in the weight room for how to prepare. No one studies harder, and
everyone on the defense goes to him for advice for matters on and off
the field.
Then there's all of the work he's doing on the field and in the meeting
room to prepare first-round pick Anthony Spencer for the regular season.
Trust me, few players have that type of commitment to an organization.
Jones is not blameless in this deteriorating situation.
[Cowboys linebacker Greg Ellis is trying to return after rupturing an
Achilles' tendon.] LOUIS DELUCA / DMN Cowboys linebacker Greg Ellis
is trying to return after rupturing an Achilles' tendon.
The owner created a precedent for restructuring contracts last year when
he gave Terry Glenn a new deal to make sure he didn't pout after Terrell
Owens signed a three-year, $25 million deal.
For the record, Jones also signed Bradie James, Jason Witten and Roy
Williams to extensions last year, although each was in the final year of
his contract and Jones was trying to keep them from free agency.
The details don't really matter to Ellis. All he knows is that if Jerry
did it once, he can do it again.
A compromise could be reached by giving Ellis a new deal at the start of
the season once he's proved he's healthy. Too bad that's not going to
happen.
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