{"id":16434,"date":"2025-01-02T08:43:48","date_gmt":"2025-01-02T08:43:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=16434"},"modified":"2025-01-02T08:43:48","modified_gmt":"2025-01-02T08:43:48","slug":"ezekiel-elliott-released-cowboys-mike-mccarthy-explains-why-veteran-rbs-return-to-dallas-didnt-work-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=16434","title":{"rendered":"Ezekiel Elliott released: Cowboys’ Mike McCarthy explains why veteran RB’s return to Dallas didn’t work out"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The\u00a0Dallas Cowboys\u00a0and three-time Pro Bowl running back\u00a0Ezekiel Elliott\u00a0underwent their second divorce in as many seasons\u00a0when they granted his release Tuesday<\/span>. Elliott asked to be let go in an effort to potentially sign with a playoff team.<\/p>\n

Head coach Mike McCarthy gave a plain and simple answer as to why Elliott’s second tenure in Dallas didn’t pan out:\u00a0Rico Dowdle. Dowdle became the first\u00a0undrafted player in team history to rush for 1,000 yards<\/span>. Since Week 11, when the team ditched it’s running back-by-committee approach and anointed Dowdle as the clear-cut lead back, he totaled 633 yards. That is the fifth-most in the\u00a0NFL\u00a0in that span. Elliott totaled career lows in carries (74), rushing yards (226), rushing touchdowns (3), yards per carry (5.1) and rushing yards per game (15.1).<\/p>\n

“It was a conversation that he asked for the opportunity to move forward,” McCarthy said on a conference call Wednesday. “I think that’s clearly what’s in front of him. We started this journey at the running back position looking to potentially be a running back-by-committee, and Rico [Dowdle] clearly took the lead position and he’s ended up having a pretty productive year.”<\/p>\n

Dallas honored Elliott’s request for a release prior to Week 18 because of his early-career success. He led the NFL in rushing yards in two of his first three seasons (1,631 in 2016 and 1,434 in 2018). However, Elliott’s rushing yards per game average has declined in all nine years of his NFL career.<\/p>\n

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