With the news that Ezekiel Elliott and the Cowboys are splitting ways, it’s time to look back on his seven years spent playing for the team. Elliott put up some outstanding numbers, but not enough to challenge Dallas’ top two running backs. Given that those players are still among the top 10 rushers in league history, it is not a scandal.
Elliott’s cumbersome $90 million deal has long been thought to lead to either a salary cut or an outright discharge, and now we know the truth. As a post-June 1 cut, the Cowboys have chosen to part ways with their veteran running back.
For those who are unaware, this implies that by spreading out Elliott’s $16.7 million salary cap hit over the next two years, the Cowboys will decrease its impact. The change will save him $10.9 million in cap relief in 2023, though it’s crucial to remember that those savings won’t be realized until the transfer is approved in June. He will carry around $6 million in dead money each of the following two years. The logical assumption is that the funds will go toward future contracts as well as signing Dallas’ draught class of 2023.
This makes a clear gap in the Dallas running-back room aside from the accounting issue. Tony Pollard was given the franchise tag by the Cowboys, but the $10.09 million deal is only valid for one season. Malik Davis, the only other running back on the roster, has only had 38 carries in his career.
Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, stated in a statement, “We have mutually agreed with Zeke that the best decision is for him to be allowed to experience free agency, and we can also improve our flexibility and alternatives.”
Although outstanding, his achievements do not place him on the same level as Smith and Dorsett. But he is the only one on this plateau. The choice to move on from Elliott is motivated by future declining returns. That shouldn’t take away from the work he has already accomplished in his career.
The Tampa Buccaneers are looking to add another running back, per ESPN
Former Dallas Cowboys Ezekiel Elliott is a name to watch. A former RB coach is there with Bucs that worked with Zeke in Dallas. pic.twitter.com/YCAAGjwmdu
— NFL Rumors (@nflrums) May 10, 2023
Through his first seven seasons, Elliott ran for 8,262 yards, which put him among the top 45 all-time rushers in the league. Derrick Henry is the lone forward back who is actively moving. At this moment, the Tennessee offense’s focal point leads Elliott by 73 yards. And keep in mind that during his second season in the NFL, Elliott missed six games due to a suspension.
Elliott inked a six-year, $90 million agreement with the Cowboys in September 2019, and it had four years left but no guaranteed money. The 27-year-old recently finished a season in which he averaged 3.8 yards per run and a career-low 876 yards of rushing. It was the first time in Elliott’s career that he ran for less than 979 yards and had a carry average of under 4 yards.
During his first three seasons, Elliott also had the greatest average running yards per game in the NFL. Elliott recorded 1,002 running yards with 10 touchdowns in 17 games in 2021 despite having a partly damaged posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. Last season, he hyperextended the same knee as well, which cost him two games.
According to the Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram, Elliott did not require off-season surgery. If there is a new plot to follow, it may be whether the Cowboys negotiate a long-term contract extension with Pollard by the mid-July deadline or whether they choose to select a successor and let Pollard go at this point in the next season.
Over the past two seasons, Cowboys running back Tony Pollard has been more and more prominent. Following Pollard’s breakout season in which he led Dallas with 1,007 rushing yards, the Cowboys placed the running back on the franchise tag for $10.1 million this summer. He scored nine touchdowns while running. Last season, Pollard produced 371 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns for the Cowboys out of the backfield. He required surgery to mend ligaments in January, though, after suffering a high ankle sprain in the divisional round playoff defeat to the San Francisco 49ers.
Elliott has 8,262 yards of total rushing, 68 rushing touchdowns, and 80 total touchdowns, which places him third all-time among Cowboys running backs. In Cowboys history, only Hall of Famers Emmitt Smith and Tony Dorsett has more.
Nevertheless, the Cowboys’ star ran for 12 touchdowns, which is the fourth time in his career he has generated double-digit touchdowns in a season. He made the most of his scoring opportunities. Elliott, a three-time Pro Bowl pick, led the NFL in running yards as a rookie in 2016 and 2019 (1,631 yards and 1,434 yards, respectively). He also had more than 1,300 rushing yards in three of his first four seasons.
Speculation on the upcoming NFL draught will undoubtedly follow that. The Cowboys had been associated with several running back prospects in this draught class, most notably Texas star Bijan Robinson, for a long time prior to this choice. There will undoubtedly be curiosity if Robinson has a shot to become the Cowboys’ next prominent running back because scouts believe he is one of the top running backs to enter the draught in the past ten years.
Nevertheless, the Cowboys’ star ran for 12 touchdowns, which is the fourth time in his career he has generated double-digit touchdowns in a season. He made the most of his scoring opportunities. Elliott, a three-time Pro Bowl pick, led the NFL in running yards as a rookie in 2016 and 2019 (1,631 yards and 1,434 yards, respectively). He also had more than 1,300 rushing yards in three of his first four seasons.
There are further choices. This is a strong class of rookie running backs, with names like Jahmyr Gibbs of Alabama, Devon Achane of Texas A&M, and Tyjae Spears of Tulane, giving the Cowboys the chance to solidify their depth chart.
It would be intriguing to observe how his market is structured. 11 running backs have signed or reached agreements on new contracts as of this point in the free agency period. Only David Montgomery has received any form of a large salary, with the Detroit Lions providing guarantees totaling almost $11 million. The remaining agreements were one- or two-year contracts with little assurances. Elliott may still establish a position for himself, but his upcoming contract won’t be as profitable as his previous one.
Elliott has been among the most successful backs in the league throughout that time, as these statistics may imply. In 2016 and 2018, he was the NFL’s running champion, receiving first-team All-Pro recognition. He is the league’s second-leading rusher over the past ten years, behind only Derrick Henry.
In the history of the NFL, just 31 players have amassed 10,000 career yards of rushing. Elliott has a chance to join them because he is now 1,738 yards short of that total. nevertheless, not any longer as a Dallas Cowboy. For FOX Sports, David Helman covers the Dallas Cowboys. He formerly covered the Cowboys for the team’s official website for nine seasons. For his work on “Dak Prescott: A Family Reunion,” a documentary about the quarterback’s time at Mississippi State, he was awarded a regional Emmy in 2018.
