Rookie deals are slotted and there is nothing they can do about it, they are forced into a pay scale that hedges the middle between high paid and not, erring on the side of the owners, I think.
We have been talking about this at work lately, the rookie contracts are inherently unfair to RB's, which is why you see so many holding out. They have typically very short careers and very narrow windows to make their money.
If I was Elliot, I would do the same thing, he will never be worth more than he is right now.
All of this talk of how much money and how they can do this or that is irrelevant. If you could make 35 million a year, but are only getting 1, you are a fool. Even if 1 million a year is more than enough money to live a crazy good life. It doesn't matter, because what if he gets hurt this year? Are the cowboys going to give him 35 million next year? Or whatever the numbers are?