Ed Werder only recently rejoined ESPN after being unceremoniously dumped in 2017, and here is today with a firecracker:

Werder earlier today tweeted this:

“Signing Elliott is highest priority. Paying less than Gurley and more than Bell seems a reasonable compromise with Elliott under contract two more seasons.”

So Gurley is the highest paid running back in the NFL, earning an average annual number of $14.37 million. Bell is #2 at $13.1 million and David Johnson third at $13 million. That’s according to Over the Cap. 

Gurley is 25 with a contract that takes him to 2024, though there’s a potential out in 2022, when he turns 28 years old. Bell’s New York deal is somewhat similar, four years with an out at age 28.

Zeke has two more years on his contract, which will earn him about $13 million total. If he signed a four year deal right now for similar money, then you add the same out that Bell and Gurley have in their contracts, it would be six years total remaining with the conditional out kicking in also at age 28. That seems like a blueprint to follow.

There’s some background. We shall see if this deal gets done. Probably at like midnight on Saturday it will casually drop.