The Dallas Cowboys are set to add a familiar face to their running back room, reportedly agreeing to terms with Ezekiel Elliott.
A reunion between the Cowboys and their former No. 4 overall pick is pending a physical, according to NFL Media, while ESPN reports it’s a one-year contract.
Elliott, whom the Cowboys drafted in 2016, spent his first seven NFL seasons with Dallas and twice led the league in rushing.
“Zeke, as we all know, is one of our favorites,” Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said last week. “He’s laid it on the line for this franchise. He’s the ultimate competitor.”
The Cowboys cut Elliott as a cap casualty following the 2022 season, four years after signing him to a six-year, $90 million extension that made him the NFL’s highest-paid running back.
He spent 2023 with the New England Patriots, rushing for 642 yards and three touchdowns while averaging 3.5 yards per carry.
Elliott, who turns 29 in July, made three Pro Bowls in his first four seasons with Dallas, but his production began to decline toward the end of his tenure. In 2022, he averaged 3.8 yards per carry and rushed for 876 yards – both career lows at the time – over 15 games while splitting time with Tony Pollard, who led the Cowboys with 1,007 rushing yards on 5.2 yards per carry that season.
Pollard’s play declined in a primary role last season, however, and he left last month for a three-year, $24 million contract with the Tennessee Titans, creating a void in the Dallas backfield.
The Cowboys did not select a running back in last week’s NFL Draft, despite owner Jerry Jones publicly raving about Texas’ Jonathon Brooks as “the best interview” he’s ever conducted with a player.
Elliott would join a Dallas position group that also includes Rico Dowdle, who rushed for 361 yards and two touchdowns last season, and Deuce Vaughn, a 2023 sixth-round pick. Royce Freeman, 28, also signed this month with the Cowboys, marking his fifth team in seven years.
Elliott’s 8,262 rushing yards and 68 touchdowns rank third in Cowboys history, trailing Emmett Smith, who rushed for 17,162 yards and 153 touchdowns with Dallas, and Tony Dorsett, who ran for 12,036 yards and 72 touchdowns.
