The Ezekiel Elliott era in Dallas has officially come to an end. The former fourth-overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft was released by the team Wednesday afternoon.
Reports had been that Zeke would try to take a significant pay cut to stay with the team. Instead, the release allows Elliott to seek different options with other teams this offseason.
An Elliott release would save the Cowboys $4.86M immediately.
They will designate him as a post-June 1st cut, and if they do, the overall savings this season would be $10.9M; however, the difference is not available until after June 1st.
He is now free to sign with any team he would like.
End of an era: The #Cowboys have informed former NFL rushing champ Ezekiel Elliott that they are releasing him, per me and @TomPelissero. He’ll be designated as a post-June 1 release to create cap space. pic.twitter.com/QKZhkny76i
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 15, 2023
Elliott leads the team with 8,262 rushing yards, 68 rushing touchdowns, and 80 total touchdowns. All three rank him third in franchise history, and only trailing Hall of Fame members Emmitt Smith and Tony Dorsett — pretty good company.
One of the best running backs to ever play for Dallas, but it was time.
The writing was on the wall.
From the time the season ended till Tony Pollard got hit with the franchise tag.
I would have been okay with keeping him as a backup taking fewer carries, but he probably didn’t want that.
Although it was time for the team to move on from him, I want to make sure and say thank you, Zeke.
From the feed me celebration after a first down to how much money he raised by jumping into the red kettle.
He didn’t get what we all wanted — a title. But man, he had some exciting, fun moments with the team.
He immediately emerged as one of the NFL’s top running backs, leading the league in rushing with 1,631 yards and 15 touchdowns as a rookie.
He led the NFL in rushing again in 2018 with 1,434 yards.
Zeke was selected to three Pro Bowls in his first four NFL seasons.
In his seven years with Dallas, Ezekiel Elliott had 10,498 all-purpose yards and led the league in rushing twice (2016 and 2018).
He ranks third in franchise history in rushing yards and rushing TDs, behind Hall of Famers Emmitt Smith and Tony Dorsett.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 15, 2023
In the last three years, though, we saw Elliott’s production start declining.
He averaged a career-low 3.8 yards per carry in 2022. He ran for 876 yards and 12 touchdowns on 231 attempts.
For the amount of money he was set to make, that wouldn’t do it without a massive pay cut.
With Elliott released, Pollard and Malik Davis are their two primary running backs for 2023.
This year’s class is DEEP, but history has shown the Cowboys would not be afraid to try and grab a guy like Bijan Robinson if he falls to Dallas at pick 26.
Nonetheless, it was a good ride from Zeke.
I hope he finds a new home quick. He probably still has some left in the tank for a team that doesn’t want to run it 25 times a game. He would be an ideal guy for a team like the Saints, or the Bills.
Heck, even the Texans, who ranked last in every category. Zeke would be an upgrade.
https://twitter.com/MichaelJBier/status/1636088301084987392
End of an era indeed for this team and for Ezekiel Elliott.
I didn’t want to see him go. I am sure one day he will return to the Cowboys to retire, but for now, he will get to carry the rock for another team.
Agree Shane, it was a good ride. Zeke was THE BEST RB IN THE NFL and probably the best Cowboy on the team his first three (maybe four) years. He was awesome. One of my favorite players. He always gave his all even when he lost some burst later on. Cowboys did right by him by releasing and letting him pick his next team. While it may be time for this separation, going to hate to see him in a different uniform.
Hello Shane! I’m not surprised, but I kinda hate to see him go. His production had fallen off significantly and he just wasn’t the same running back after the holdout. He’ll get picked up by somebody and maybe we’ll see some of the young Zeke again. I wish him all the best! He was a good tailback for the Cowboys. Hopefully the Cowboys will be fortunate enough to have Robinson or Gibbs still on the board at number 26 and not be too idiotic to draft one of them. Pollard is on a 1 year deal and in true Stephen Jones fashion, he won’t get a contract extension.
Dang, Zeek. We’ll miss you. Without a sure replacement, the team will miss his blocking, professional approach to the game, positive attitude, and overall leadership. But….it was time. He played with knee issues, I know. The injuries surely had an effect on his production and we appreciate that. But we, the fans, have witnessed his decline for a few years now. Many of who, myself included, didn’t want to believe it was permanent. After all, It is Zeek. He was so explosive, how could his super powers not return?
They didnt.
After watching Pollard and the explosiveness he played with, I’m more convinced now than ever that Elliott is a 2nd tier RB. Not by heart, certainly, but as a whole. All the above mentioned abilities that Zeek still excels at don’t matter if you aren’t explosive. Those talents can be handled by another player. Explosiveness can not. Only explosive players can be explosive.
Talented RB’s can be found in every draft, in almost any round. At least those that have enough talent to do the job at an effective level. I say draft’em young. Run them for 4-5 years and ley them go. Replace with young talent. Unless you find an outlier that defies the norm. An Emmitt, Walter, Sanders, Peterson, etc. The position is just too hard on the players to agree to multi year, top dollar contracts as they approach 30.
I truly respect and appreciate Zeeks time with us. It’s hard to let go….but the timing is right.
Side note* This is only about football. As a man, I truly respect Zeek. I think he is an incredible human being and wish him nothing but the best.
Regardless of the team Zeek ends up with, I’ll be doing the “Feed Me” celebration with each first down. I hope all of you would do the same.
This is the way…