Report: Former Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott to sign with Patriots

From @ToddBrock24f7: The two-time rushing champ will join New England on a one-year deal worth up to $6 million; he’ll face the Cowboys in Arlington in Week 4.

When the Cowboys host the New England Patriots in Week 4, an awful lot of blue-and-silver-clad fans will still be wearing the name and number of one of the opponents, according to news that broke late Monday.

Zeke Who???

Longtime Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott is expected to sign a one-year deal with the Patriots, as first reported by NFL insiders Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero.

Elliott worked out with New England earlier this summer in his bid to land with a new team after being released by the Cowboys in March. Elliott amassed over 8,000 rushing yards in seven years in Dallas, winning the league rushing title in two of his first three seasons as a pro.

Elliott’s new deal is thought to be worth up to $6 million.

The Patriots’ ground attack last season was led by 25-year-old Rhamondre Stevenson, who tallied 1,040 yards over 17 games.

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Elliott, who just turned 28, looks to be set to return to the No. 15 he wore at Ohio State. The Patriots website listed punter Corliss Waitman as having that jersey as of Monday afternoon, but Elliott himself posted a message to social media suggesting that he’s ready to take over his college number.

Many Cowboys fans were hoping for a reunion that would bring the rusher back to Dallas on a reduced contract. Now it appears Elliott will, in fact, return to AT&T Stadium on Oct. 1… but he’ll be wearing a Patriots uniform.

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McCarthy ready to ‘develop the room’ of Cowboys RBs; Jerry Jones keeps door open for Zeke

From @ToddBrock24f7: With Ronald Jones out for 2 games, the Cowboys owner is thinking about his former two-time rushing champ: ‘”He’s not ruled out at all here.”

Rumblings about a possible reunion between the Cowboys and free agent running back Ezekiel Elliott haven’t really died off since the club released him in March.

The volume got turned up as padded practices began in Oxnard this week, with team ownership claiming publicly that the door is still very much open.

With the announcement Monday that veteran running back Ronald Jones will be suspended for the first two games of the 2023 season for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances, talk among the team’s followers naturally turned to bringing back the the two-time rushing champ.

“A very legitimate question,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told The K&C Masterpiece on 105.3 The Fan on Tuesday before cryptically adding, “And we’re reading the tea leaves.”

What Ronald Jones will be able to contribute this season is murky at best.

The former USC Trojan has never had a 1,000-yard rushing campaign in five NFL seasons and saw just 17 attempts last year in Kansas City. But his veteran presence was thought to be a benefit for the young platoon of ball carriers currently in Dallas.

“We support him, and we’ll work through this,” Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said of the situation Tuesday.

Jones’s suspension won’t affect the top of the depth chart for the Dallas backs. Tony Pollard still steps into the lead role for 2023, but is coming off a devastating knee and ankle injury suffered just over six months ago. Behind him is a stable of largely-unproven youngsters. Malik Davis and Rico Dowdle have a combined 45 NFL carries; Deuce Vaughn and Hunter Luepke are true rookies.

McCarthy seems prepared to lean on that crew, at least for this early portion of camp.

“To me, that’s really part of the training camp environment,” the coach told media members on Tuesday. “It’s a young room; we knew that going in. The development of all those guys so far has been impressive. The running back group as whole had a solid day yesterday.”

Jones may continue practicing with the team and can even play in preseason contests, but every rep he gets prior to Week 1 is one less opportunity for a rusher who could be called upon to actually tote the rock on opening night in New York.

“We’ll just continue to develop the room,” McCarthy said.

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But it’s obvious that Elliott could walk back into that room pretty seamlessly after amassing over 8,200 rushing yards over seven seasons wearing the star. The just-turned 28-year-old spent much of the summer working out with his former Cowboys teammates, but he did meet recently with the New England Patriots. And with injuries already starting to affect the plans of teams like the Seattle Seahawks, it’s entirely possible that Elliott will not be on the open market much longer.

For Jerry Jones, a sudden hole at the position (even if only for just two games), an increased demand for a former star player, and the physical nature of the team’s padded practices all appear to have the billionaire thinking once more about the former first-round draft pick for whom he admittedly has a soft spot.

“All of a sudden, you start thinking about the kinds of things you ought to be thinking about when you’re evaluating at camp,” Jones said of Elliott. “He’s not ruled out at all here.”

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Ezekiel Elliott scheduled to visit Patriots

Were Elliott to land with the Patriots, a return to Texas would be right around the corner as the two teams clash in October. | From @KDDrummondNFL

One of the biggest discussions over the past month has been the deterioration of the running back market in the NFL. Running backs have long been the position where the best Pop Warner and high school athletes have played, but as it stands now it’s one of the least valued positions when it comes to the professional ranks. Save for the footballers who actually touch the ball with their feet, no other position has less players making more than $10 million on average.

That landscape played a role in the Dallas Cowboys releasing star running back Ezekiel Elliott over the spring. Originally signed to a six-year extension on top of two remaining years, Elliott’s guaranteed money ran through the 2022 season so it wasn’t a surprise. What has been a bit of a shocker is that a back with clear leadership traits, a team-first attitude and an insatiable nose for the end zone has not latched on with another club yet. With training camps starting up this week and teams getting a close look at their current stables, the market is starting to pick up. Elliott is included in that mix as he’s expected to visit with the New England Patriots this weekend according to Mike Reiss of ESPN.

The Patriots’ backfield is currently spearheaded by Rhamondre Stevenson, a 2021 fourth-round pick. Stevenson ran for 1,010 yards last season on 210 carries and has scored five rushing touchdowns in each of his two seasons. He’s a big back, weighing in at 227 pounds and standing 6-foot tall. He’s backed up by Pierre Strong, a 2022 fourth rounder who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 205 pounds.

Strong has just 10 career carries, so there isn’t much experience in the Patriots’ backfield. That clearly isn’t the case with Elliott. Elliott ranks No. 20 all-time in the league for yards from scrimmage over the first seven years of a career, with 10,598. The names above him are a who’s who in terms of NFL running backs.

Elliott’s 80 touchdowns scored rank him 12th among the category.

In other words, his next team is certainly going to have someone who has been there, done that. If that happens to be the Patriots, Elliott would return home to Dallas on October 1, when the two teams meet at AT&T Stadium.

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Cowboys just days away from over $20M in cap space

A decision in the spring is about to come to fruition heading into the summer. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The Dallas Cowboys are on the verge of having a bunch of salary cap space for 2023 and beyond. Right now, Dallas sits at $10.5 million of available space. This is after they signed their entire 2023 draft class ahead of the onset of OTAs. With all of their draft picks inked already, the Cowboys have a sizable amount of wiggle room for any summer signings they are interested in making.

And that amount is going to more than double in about 48 hours. That’s because the Cowboys have yet to receive the cap space from the organizations decision to part ways with running back Ezekiel Elliott, adding another $10.9 million in space for a grand total of $21.4 million.

Elliott was released as a June 1 cut; a favor move each team can do twice each offseason. It doesn’t do much for the club at the time, but rather it allows a player to test the open market while other teams still have free agency dollars at their disposal.

NFL accounting is mostly funny money, with bonus amounts being allocated across multiple years. This allows teams to spend way above the hard cap amount on salaries each spring. A $20 million signing bonus may be paid to a player at the time they were signed, but it is spread out evenly across up to five years so the cap hit isn’t outrageous.

Teams are also allowed to have option bonuses and also restructure base salaries into bonuses which can also be spread out, moving cap hits to later in the deal’s structure when they will take up a lower percentage of the ever-increasing salary cap.

While those moves benefit the team and make no difference to the player, a June 1 move is the exact opposite. The team doesn’t see the cap savings from the release until June 2, but the player has freedom to shop his services.

On June 2, Elliott’s $10.9 million base salary will be removed from the Cowboys’ ledger, leaving only his $5.82 million bonus allocation on this year’s books. After June 1, bonus money allocated to future years will accelerate onto the next year’s cap.

Elliott will cost the Cowboys $6.04 million in 2024 despite being long gone.

If Dallas had released Elliott outright earlier in the spring, they would have gotten the relief of the $10.9 million immediately but his $6.04 million would have accelerated onto the 2023 cap, netting Dallas  $4.86 million of savings this year immediately and avoiding any dead money next year.

Teams make conscious decisions each offseason whether they want to bite the bullet in its entirety or spread the pain out over multiple seasons. Leftover cap space is rolled over to the next season, so while it might look like Dallas did themselves a disservice with their decision, it’s really moving money from one had to another and giving them the option of using that space now.

Jerry Jones: ‘Ship hasn’t sailed’ on Cowboys re-signing Ezekiel Elliott

From @ToddBrock24f7: Drafting RB Deuce Vaughn in the sixth round doesn’t rule out the possibility of bringing back the two-time rushing champ, Jones said.

Heading into Thursday night’s first round, it was thought the Cowboys might spend a first-round draft pick on a running back. Instead, the Falcons landed Bijan Robinson with the eighth overall selection, and the Lions caused a stir by taking Jahmyr Gibbs at No. 12. Then Day 2 came and went. Two more rounds, and no running back for Dallas.

The Cowboys waited until Saturday- and the 212th selection- to finally address their backfield. Granted, Kansas State’s Deuce Vaughn is an electrifying talent. And yes, the story of his dad (a Cowboys scout) being the one to make the phone call to his son will go down as an all-time draft moment to remember. But the addition of a 5-foot-5 sixth-round pick doesn’t exactly put the obvious final touches on the Cowboys’ running attack after the release of two-time rushing champ Ezekiel Elliott.

Left to wonder why the organization didn’t add anything more than a Day-3 lottery ticket to the RB room, Cowboys fans were offered a tantalizing nugget by the team owner late Saturday. Jerry Jones suggested that maybe the biggest addition to the ground game wouldn’t come via the draft, but through a post-draft re-signing of the club’s third-all-time leading rusher.

“The ship hasn’t sailed there,” Jones said, regarding Elliott. “I haven’t ruled out Zeke.”

Elliott was released on March 15 and has yet to land with a new club. Jones has frequently stated his affinity for Elliott, and this was not the first time he’s publicly floated the idea of a reunion. Quarterback Dak Prescott similarly lamented the loss of his best friend and has suggested there would be widespread support within the building to bring Elliott back on a new contract.

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Elliott’s No. 21 jersey has already been re-issued to new cornerback Stephon Gilmore, but giving Elliott new digits would be a minor detail in the grand scheme of things. Working out more cost-effective terms and determining a new role for Elliott within the offense would be of far greater importance.

But after watching several teams draft plug-and-play starting ballcarriers- and seeing the defending NFC champion Eagles upgrade their roster even further by pulling off a mid-draft trade for D’Andre Swift- Cowboys fans can’t be blamed for grabbing at any scrap of hope they can find regarding the team’s plans for the position in 2023.

Even if that hope comes in the form of the guy they just sent packing.

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Another Cowboys QB loves idea of re-signing Ezekiel Elliott: ‘He’s the glue’

From @ToddBrock24f7: Troy Aikman joined those who believe much of what Elliott brings can’t be measured by stats and can’t be replaced by drafting a new player.

With every day that Ezekiel Elliott remains a free agent, the rumblings of a reunion with the Cowboys seem to grow louder and louder.

Especially if you ask a Cowboys quarterback.

While Dak Prescott admitted to feeling a mix of emotions upon starting voluntary workouts at the facility last week with Elliott no longer owning a locker in the building, it’s three-time Super Bowl winner Troy Aikman who has provided the latest fuel for the rumor mill regarding the franchise’s third-leading rusher possibly returning to the fold.

“I don’t want to speak for the Cowboys or the Joneses, but it feels like that might be the case,” Aikman said Friday while hosting a charity event in Dallas. “I know there’s a great amount of respect for Zeke. I think the question becomes, ‘Is Zeke capable of really having a reduced role?’ My guess is, knowing him the way that I do, that he would handle that fine. I thought he handled everything this past year really well.”

Elliott was released by the club in March following a down year that saw him post career-low numbers in several categories and finish last among starting rushers in yards per carry, tackles avoided, and percentage of runs that went for 10-plus yards.

But Aikman echoed earlier statements- by Jerry and Stephen Jones as well as Prescott and head coach Mike McCarthy- who maintain that Elliott brings much more to the team than what shows up in the box score.

“I’ve talked to a number of people that have been in that locker room- coaches, players- and he’s the glue,” the Hall of Famer continued. “Losing those type of players- I’ve said it before- you don’t replace those guys. It’s really, really hard. We had some when I was playing: didn’t contribute much on the field during the games- he obviously would contribute more- but those that didn’t, they had a really big role in allowing us to do what we were able to do, and I think Zeke’s one of those people.”

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But bringing Elliott back to Dallas on a new contract would require some degree of patience from both parties.

While it’s been reported that Elliott has yet to hear from another NFL team about a job, this weekend’s draft could change things. There will be a club who doesn’t come away from Kansas City with the running back they’re hoping for. There will be a club who wants to beef up their running attack prior to OTAs starting. There is always the chance that some club will see their backfield decimated by injury early in camp.

Declining skills or not, Elliott will be a commodity for whom there is a market that only grows with each day the regular season gets nearer.

Dallas is widely thought to be in the hunt for more rushing talent via the draft. And while some suspect the Cowboys will make a play for a top-tier back like Bijan Robinson or Jahmyr Gibbs, they could just as easily hang back and wait for someone like Deuce Vaughn or Mo Ibrahim.

Or they could decide to use the pick on a different position altogether and instead welcome back the two-time rushing champ to a stable that already includes Tony Pollard, Ronald Jones, and Malik Davis.

What Elliott’s exact on-the-field role would be in such a timeshare is anyone’s guess. But, as Aikman knows from experience, what the team gains off the field could prove to be just as vital.

“I think it’d be a great addition if they were able to work something out to bring him back.”

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Ezekiel Elliott works out with Dak, Cowboys receivers on Prescott’s backyard field

Settle down. The friends were just staying in football shape, even though some are still clinging to the idea of the team re-signing Zeke. | From @ToddBrock24f7

Cowboys players can kick off their voluntary offseason work at team headquarters as early as next Monday, but plenty of them have already gotten a jump start in quarterback Dak Prescott’s backyard.

The scaled-down turf field he added in 2020 has become affectionately known as “The Dakyard.” Professionally installed by the same company that did AT&T Stadium and The Star in Frisco, it includes regulation hash marks and a 10-yard end zone.

It’s become a popular spot for Prescott and his teammates to practice the precise throws and routes they’ll look to execute on Sundays, and landing an invite for a workout there has come to carry some amount of weight for those who lend credence to such things.

So it took many by surprise when recent photos taken in The Dakyard showed Prescott getting in reps with receivers CeeDee Lamb, Simi Fehoko, Jalen Tolbert, KaVontae Turpin, and Dennis Houston, tight ends Jake Ferguson and Sean McKeon… as well as running back Ezekiel Elliott.

Elliott, of course, was released by the Cowboys in mid-March and has yet to land with another club, so his presence raised a few eyebrows. Some even interpreted the workout as a sign that the two-time rushing champ is on his way back to Dallas on a new, less costly contract.

Yes, head coach Mike McCarthy and owner Jerry Jones both publicly left the door open for a possible 2023 reunion with Elliott, but the reality is that it’s highly unlikely.

The team didn’t even offer their former first-round draft pick a reduced-money deal, they said, out of “respect” for what he has meant to the franchise and on the assumption that he’d prefer to let a better offer come to him from elsewhere. The 27-year-old has named a handful of teams he says he’d like to play for, but he’ll probably be waiting until after the draft (and perhaps well into training camp), once a few clubs inevitably realize they’re not as set at the position as they had hoped.

The simple answer to why Elliott was working out in Prescott’s backyard with current Cowboys players is friendship. The quarterback and running back came up together as rookies in that breakout year of 2016; their close relationship has been well documented over the years since. Prescott went so far as to call Elliott “a brother” and admit recently that he was “hurt” by the front office’s decision to release the seven-year veteran.

But the two hanging out together and even getting in a group offseason workout is perfectly natural and innocuous, with no hidden meaning or top-secret subtext.

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Eagles among 3 teams Ezekiel Elliott is considering for 2023

The two-time rushing champ is also considering the Bengals and Jets; he says he hopes to have a decision by the end of next week. | From @ToddBrock24f7

A significant portion of Cowboys Nation had already moved on from running back Ezekiel Elliott and were prepared to say goodbye when the club released him on March 15.

But now those same fans may have to prepare themselves to see Elliott twice a year wearing enemy colors.

The 27-year-old free agent has reportedly “narrowed down his options” about where he’ll play in 2023, according to NFL insider Adam Schefter. The Eagles, Bengals, and Jets are apparently the finalists to land the two-time rushing champ.

And a decision may be coming before the month is out, says Schefter’s sources.

The defending NFC champ Eagles find themselves without last year’s leading rusher after 1,200-yard-man Miles Sanders signed a new deal with Carolina. Quarterback Jalen Hurts was the team’s second-leading rusher; Boston Scott and Kenneth Gainwell had just double-digit rushing totals on the season. Philadelphia did sign former Seahawk Rashaad Penny in free agency.

In Cincinnati, 26-year-old Joe Mixon tallied 814 ground yards last season. Backup Samaje Perine is now with Denver, leaving Trayveon Williams as the only other Bengals running back to carry the ball in 2022.

The Jets’ top rusher last season, rookie Breece Hall, amassed just 463 yards before a knee injury ended his year early. A platoon of Michael Carter, Zonovan Knight, Ty Johnson, and James Robinson combined for another 944.

Wherever Elliott lands, he seems set on returning to the jersey number he wore at Ohio State, according to a tweet he posted on Thursday.

The Cowboys are slated to face the Eagles twice- as usual- in 2023 and will also play the Jets.

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Dak Prescott on life after Elliott: ‘I can’t imagine him not in the locker room’

Prescott spoke to reporters about the coming changes in 2023, among which will be professional life without his BFF. | From @ReidDHanson

Rosters are fluid in the NFL; the annual churn of personnel mean every season is a brand new endeavor. Whether it’s a team pushing a player out of the door or a player walking out on their own volition, it’s often a difficult change for everyone involved.

As the last remaining player from the Cowboys 2016 draft class, it’s a reality Dak Prescott knows all-too-well.

Since the day they were drafted seven years ago, Ezekiel Elliott and Prescott had been seemingly tied at the hip. Elliott, the blue-chip prospect selected with the fourth overall pick and Prescott, the QB consolation prize selected with a compensatory pick in the fourth round, formed an instant bond. It’s a bond that carried them through their spectacularly improbable rookie seasons and it’s a bond that continues to this day.

“A brother,” Prescott said of Elliott. “Being able to start this NFL career and share so many memories and grow up as men with the organization, I really can’t imagine taking the field without him. I don’t know if it’s completely hit me yet.”

Elliott’s boisterous personality made him a locker room favorite in Dallas. The energy and excitement he provided was infectious. It could cut tension without being a distraction.

“Had fun, did that, Prescott said. “But when it was time to lock in and time to focus and give everything that you had and show your teammates and show the younger guys what really mattered and how to get things done, Zeke was the guy to follow.”

Speaking to reporters to promote the Children’s Cancer Fund Gala (which takes place April 21), Prescott showed he had a clear understanding of how things work in the NFL. The roster from that 2016 season when Prescott won Offensive Rookie of the Year has very little resemblance to the roster the Cowboys have today.

Yet, understanding the realities of the NFL is different from moving through the emotions of losing an extremely close teammate.

“I really didn’t see this day coming,” Prescott said. “I can’t imagine him not in the locker room.”

With the moment still fresh, Prescott showed the human side of the game. Yet the consummate professional also made it clear he understood “It’s part of the business.”

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Ezekiel Elliott’s Cowboys career photo gallery

A collection of some of the best Ezekiel Elliott photos from his seven-year career with the Cowboys. | From @KDDrummondNFL

After seven seasons, Ezekiel Elliott’s career as a Dallas Cowboys has come to an end. While there’s always a chance at a reunion down the line, his career appears poised to start again in another city. While he called Dallas home, though, numerous memories were made. Elliott is a three-time Pro Bowler, two-time All-Pro including First-Team in 2016. That year he finished second in rookie of the year voting and third in MVP votes.

Elliott ran for 8,262 yards with the Cowboys, third-most in club history behind Emmitt Smith and Tony Dorsett. Despite earning a reputation as a short-yardage savant over his last couple of seasons, Elliott sits with the highest per-carry average of all Cowboys’ backs with at least 1,000 carries, 4.39. His 68 rushing touchdowns (80 career total scores) also ranks third in franchise history.