The Dallas Cowboys are turning back the clock, bringing former Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott home to the big D, according to an NFL Network report.
The three-time Pro Bowler Elliott spent the first seven years of his career in Dallas before they let him walk and he ended up on the New England Patriots. He had, by all measures, the worst season of his career in Foxborough. He tallied career lows in yards, rushing attempts, touchdowns, yards per carry and yards per game as he wound up serving in a mostly backup role.
He’s back: The #Cowboys have agreed to terms with their former star RB Ezekiel Elliott, per me and @TomPelissero, as the ex-rushing champ now gives Dallas a proven weapon in the backfield.
The two sides met in person on Wednesday, and pending physical, it’s happening. pic.twitter.com/KdsjafBUao
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 29, 2024
In fact, Elliott’s yards per game metric has decreased every year since his stellar 2016 rookie season that saw him make his only AP All-Pro first team and come in third for MVP voting, just behind Tom Brady and Matt Ryan.
Elliott logged a league-leading 1,631 yards in 15 games that season, good for 108.7 yards per game, that number fell to a still-impressive 98.3 in 2017 and 95.6 in 2018. But the metric steadily decreased all the way to 58.4 his last season in Dallas and reached the bottom last season when he logged a measly 37.8 yards per game. Long story short, the dude is washed up.
And yet, despite the lackluster free agent prospects of a 28-year-old running back whose best years are likely behind him, Zeke is still probably the biggest addition Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones (who keeps insisting the Cowboys are “all in” on 2024) has made this offseason. (RELATED: Yeahhhh I’m Gonna Need My Favorite Team’s Newest Draft Pick To Look A LITTLE More Enthused That We Just Picked Him)
Jones let his team’s left tackle Tyron Smith, who anchored Tony Romo and Dak Prescott’s blind sides for over a decade in Dallas, walk to the Jets. He let Zeke’s last replacement, running back Tony Pollard, sign with the Tennessee Titans. He lost defensive linemen Dante Fowler Jr., Dorrance Armstrong and Neville Gallimore. And he watched his center, Tyler Biadasz, walk to the division rival Washington Commanders. He’s elected to replace these guys with low-risk, low-money scrap heap scrubs.
Jones continued to spit in the faces of Cowboys fans on draft day, trading down five spots from their 24th overall spot to 29. Between those picks, the Green Bay Packers snatched the consensus-best center in the draft, Duke’s Graham Barton, at pick 26, depriving Dallas of a potential star at a much-needed position.
Jones’ mouth says the Boys are all in, but his wallet is telling a different story. If I’m a Cowboys fan, I’m freaking livid at Jones’ lack of urgency and his refusal to improve on a team that made the playoffs but fell short last season. Their best players on both sides of the ball — QB Dak Prescott and linebacker Micah Parsons — are slated to become free agents in the next two offseasons and both will be due massive paydays. The odds Dallas keeps both are slim to none. Their window is closing and, as a Giants fan, I’m delighted.
But still, I can’t help but feel for the fans in Dallas who have to watch their senile owner squander the potential of what was once a great franchise. The Cowboys appear destined to dwell at the bottom of the NFC East for years to come. Have fun in last place boys.