Dallas Cowboys Continue To Leave Door Open On Ezekiel Elliott’s Return

The Dallas Cowboys aren’t closing the door on bringing back Ezekiel Elliott.

After much hype surrounded the Cowboys regarding their interest in hometown running back Bijan Robinson entering the 2023 NFL Draft, Dallas passed on the opportunity to draft a back in the early rounds. In fact, they didn’t select a running back until the No. 212 pick in the sixth round when they took Kansas State’s Deuce Vaughn.

Following the conclusion of the draft, team owner Jerry Jones once again left open the idea of bringing back Dallas’ former three-time Pro Bowl running back.

Via David Moore of The Dallas Morning News:

“No, no, no, not at all,’’ Jones responded when asked if the draft signaled the end of Elliott’s career with the Cowboys. “That ship hasn’t sailed yet. We haven’t made a decision.”

The comments aren’t exactly surprising considering Jones previously left open the idea of re-signing Elliott shortly following his release back in March.

Via Clarence E. Hill Jr. of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

“I don’t want to ever and I don’t want to leave him hanging or-fans hanging or anybody,” Jones said at the NFL’s annual owner meetings. “But I wouldn’t take any possibility off the table.”

As the Cowboys prepare for team minicamp throughout May and June, they’ll do so with the following depth chart at running back: Tony Pollard as the starter, Malik Davis and Ronald Jones battling it out for the backup spot and the rookie Vaughn as a potential third or fourth-string back at the end of the 53-man roster.

It’s worth noting that Pollard is coming off of a broken fibula injury suffered in January.

While the selection of Vaughn is a nice story — his father, Chris, is the assistant director of college scouting for the Cowboys — he stands at just 5-foot-5, 179 pounds. If he makes the roster, he’s best suited to be a specialty back rather than a workhorse running back.

“We obviously drafted a running back, but a little different style than Zeke,” said Jones. “I’m not trying to be cute. But nothing we did today changes that.’’

In other words, the Cowboys still have a major void at running back. Pollard has never proven to be a full-time back, Davis has just one year of experience under his belt and Jones barely played during the 2022 season, seeing just 17 carries in six games with the Kansas City Chiefs last season.

That’s why the Cowboys — despite Elliott’s clear limitations at this stage of his career — remain open to the idea of bringing back their former star player.

“That’s what we’ll be sitting here evaluating,’’ Jones said. “We’ll look and see what his situation is, what our situation is. But I have not ruled out Zeke.’’

Dallas is clearly comfortable enough to enter offseason activities without Elliott. The 27-year-old back was due to earn $10.9 million in base salary as the second-highest paid running back in the league this season. However, the Cowboys — understandably so — moved on from Elliott after he posted a career-low 3.8 yards per carry on just 876 rushing yards last season.

While Elliott clearly has lost the burst that once made him the NFL’s highest-paid running back, he still holds value as a bell-cow running back and short-yardage threat.

His 231 carries not only led the team — Pollard had just 193 carries — it ranked 10th in the NFL in rushing attempts. Furthermore, his 12 rushing touchdowns were the second-most of his career and ranked fifth in the NFL.

If the Cowboys don’t show interest in acquiring one of the top disgruntled names on the trade market — Austin Ekeler and Dalvin Cook come to mind — and neither Jones or Davis prove to be worthy as complementary backs to Pollard, Dallas will likely shift its attention to bringing back Elliott.

Again, the idea doesn’t sound crazy when one considers that the main reason the Cowboys didn’t bring Elliott back is because of his enormous salary. Under a new veteran’s minimum contract, Dallas could pay Elliott a $1.165 million deal.

Remember that the Cowboys didn’t offer Elliott a restructured deal because they didn’t want to insult him with a low deal. That wasn’t just for PR purposes. Dallas has no issue letting Elliott test the free agency market — where he’s drawn zero interest — when they could then offer him a veteran’s minimum deal when they need him down the road.

Its no guarantee that Dallas will bring back the third-leading rusher in franchise history. However, it’s definitely a reunion that appears somewhat likely as we get closer to the regular season.