Signs Point Towards Eventual Reunion With Ezekiel Elliott

It only seems like a matter of time before Ezekiel Elliott eventually reunites with the Dallas Cowboys.

Despite being released by the Cowboys earlier in the offseason, Elliott’s best chance at continuing his NFL career continues to be in Dallas. The latest report from NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo indicates that the Cowboys are in the market to re-sign Elliott if the veteran back is open to the idea.

“Perhaps a return to Dallas, in the long run, can be where this is headed,” Garafolo said.

However, that hinges on whether or not Elliott is willing to take a clear backseat role to Tony Pollard. Although Pollard was the Cowboys’ leading rusher from a yardage standpoint last season — 1,007 to Elliott’s 876 rushing yards — it was Elliott who served as Dallas’ lead back, totaling 231 to Pollard’s 193 carries.

ADVERTISEMENT

“Dallas still believes that he’s got football left,” Garafolo continued. “Now he’s not going to be the lead back there, obviously, if he does return there.”

The 27-year-old Elliott was released by the Cowboys as a result of “caponomics,” due to the $10.9 million in cap savings Dallas received as a result of moving on from the three-time Pro Bowl running back.

While the move didn’t exactly come as a surprise, what did come as a surprise was the fact that the Cowboys did not offer Elliott a restructured deal. Elliott had previously hinted that he was open to a restructured deal to return to Dallas.

“The last thing we want to do is do anything that would be insulting to a player, to a great player, like Zeke, who was one of the best players to ever put on a Cowboys uniform,” Dallas executive Stephen Jones said (via Yahoo Sports). “There are sensitivities when you get into making offers.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Jones explained why the Cowboys allowed Elliott to test the free agency market instead of simply bringing him back on a reduced deal.

“Sometimes the best thing is to let them get a feel for what the market is,” Jones said. “When you’re talking about great players — and that’s what makes them great: They think a lot, not in a selfish way, but they perceive themselves as a great player and they are. It just becomes how do you make the business work. It always boils down to that unfortunately.”

Here’s the thing — Elliott is generating very little-to-no interest on the market. Although Elliott has yet to even turn 28 years of age, he has a lot of wear-and-tear as a result of carrying the load for the Cowboys since his rookie season in 2016.

In fact, Elliott has the most carries of any player in the NFL since that year with 1,881 attempts. Outside of the Tennessee Titans’ Derrick Henry — 1,750 attempts during that time frame — no back comes even close to Elliott’s workload, with Melvin Gordon coming in at third with 1,383 attempts.

ADVERTISEMENT

Despite Elliott sending out his interest in playing for three different contenders — the Philadelphia Eagles, Cincinnati Bengals and New York Jets — shortly after his release, all three teams publicly downplayed the idea of adding Elliott.

In fact, after Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said that Philadelphia was satisfied with their current group of running backs — when asked about signing Elliott — the Eagles went out and traded for Detroit Lions running back D’Andre Swift during the 2023 NFL Draft.

While there has been rumblings that Elliott could land with the Los Angeles Chargers due to his relationship with former Cowboys offensive coordinator and current Chargers Kellen Moore along with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — former Cowboys running backs coach Skip Peete serves in the same role there — there has been little traction on Elliott’s next destination.

ADVERTISEMENT

In other words, all signs point towards Elliott’s return to Dallas.

Barring Ronald Jones or Malik Davis suddenly emerging as viable complementary options to Pollard, the Cowboys will likely bring Elliott back into the fold. Dallas is lacking a short-yardage and red zone threat on its current roster, which Elliott still excels at during this stage of his career.

It works out perfectly for both sides — Elliott gets to continue his career, while the Cowboys are justified in offering Elliott a drastically reduced contract due to his lack of interest from the free agency market. Expect a deal anywhere between $3-to-$6 million (probably an incentive-laden deal), which is nowhere near the $10.4 million in base salary he was due to earn this season.

While it may not happen immediately, expect Dallas to bring Elliott back into the fold sometime during training camp.