After just one season away from the team, Ezekiel Elliott is returning to the Cowboys, per NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero.Â
Pending a physical, Elliott intends to re-sign with the team with whom he spent the first seven years of his career.
Last season with the New England Patriots, Elliott rushed 184 times for 642 yards and three touchdowns — all of which were career lows. As Elliott continues to inch his way into senior citizenship for NFL running backs, the production will continue to drop.
What is Ezekiel Elliott’s fantasy outlook for 2024?
Presuming the signing goes through, Elliott will join an uncertain backfield in Dallas. The Cowboys parted ways with Tony Pollard this offseason and now will have Rico Dowdle, Deuce Vaughn and Royce Freeman cluttering up the depth chart.
Dowdle and Elliott would seemingly be the most likely candidates for early down work, and as long as Elliott doesn’t move like a 50-year-old man, he presumably would head the backfield at some point in the season.
I view Elliott as having a high-end RB3 upside at this point in his career, with touchdown volume being the only potential saving grace to bump him into that RB2 range.
