{"id":43971,"date":"2025-04-25T10:00:10","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T10:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=43971"},"modified":"2025-04-25T10:00:10","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T10:00:10","slug":"ezekiel-elliott-cowboys-reunion-teased-following-first-round-of-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=43971","title":{"rendered":"Ezekiel Elliott-Cowboys Reunion Teased Following First Round of Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GettyImages-2190120403-e1745571301716.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GettyImages-2190120403-e1745571301716.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GettyImages-2190120403-e1745571301716.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GettyImages-2190120403-e1745571301716.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"The Dallas Cowboys have been dubbed as a top landing spot for Ezekiel Elliott.\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" data-img-load-time=\"603\" data-dom-ready-time=\"635\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-post-image-caption-text\">The Dallas Cowboys have been dubbed as a top landing spot for Ezekiel Elliott.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The\u00a0Dallas Cowboys\u00a0may not be done with\u00a0Ezekiel Elliott.<\/p>\n<p>Elliott remains a free agent, still in search of his next opportunity. After a one-year stint with the\u00a0New England Patriots, he returned to Dallas last season. But the reunion didn\u2019t live up to expectations. Elliott played in 15 games, starting two, and managed just 226 rushing yards and three touchdowns, averaging a career-low 3.1 yards per carry.<\/p>\n<p>Elliott essentially fell out of the mix with\u00a0Rico Dowdle\u00a0emerging as the Cowboys\u2019 lead back. The Cowboys granted Elliott his release late in the season and he signed with the\u00a0Los Angeles Chargers for a playoff run. But Elliott never received a carry with the Chargers, who were bounced in the Wild Card round by the Houston Texans.<\/p>\n<h2>Cowboys Pitched as Top Landing Spot for Ezekiel Elliott<\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_5338991\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-inline wp-image-5338991 visible\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GettyImages-2181417428-e1745571349148.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=782\" alt=\"Ezekiel Elliott's reunion with the Cowboys didn't go as planned last season.\" width=\"782\" height=\"439\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5338991\" data-lazy-load=\"\" data-src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GettyImages-2181417428-e1745571349148.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=782\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-5338991\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Images<\/span>Ezekiel Elliott\u2019s reunion with the Cowboys didn\u2019t go as planned last season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Elliott isn\u2019t the Pro Bowl workhorse he used to be, but the Cowboys are running out of options \u2014 and their first-round pick didn\u2019t help. Dallas opted for\u00a0guard Tyler Booker, a safe but uninspiring choice for a fan base hungry for offensive firepower.<\/p>\n<p>A reunion with Elliott doesn\u2019t carry the same shine it once did, but as\u00a0Bleacher Report\u2019s Scott Polacek noted, the Cowboys still shape up as a top landing spot.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes, a return to the Dallas Cowboys might make some sense for the Ohio State product. After all, Elliott has plenty of experience playing alongside quarterback Dak Prescott, would surely be willing to take a smaller role for a team he knows so well and would provide some depth for a running back room that isn\u2019t loaded with talent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJavonte Williams, Miles Sanders and Deuce Vaughn don\u2019t exactly make up the league\u2019s best trio, and Elliott could come in as a goal-line back and perhaps vulture some touchdowns.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0Denver Broncos\u00a0were also mentioned as a potential home for the 29-year-old Elliott.<\/p>\n<h2>Cowboys Defend Pick of Tyler Booker<\/h2>\n<div class=\"embed-youtube-com\">https:\/\/youtu.be\/sySXuHgizRs?t=1<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Drafting a guard was a need for the Cowboys, but at No. 12, most saw it as a reach. However, the brass in Dallas is confident in the pick and the franchise has a history of hitting on offensive linemen they take early.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t have any concerns about him,\u201d\u00a0Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said of Booker. \u201cHe\u2019s a damn good football player. Is there a little bit of a learning curve, where they\u2019ve gotta learn their stance and sets, and things like that? Sure but, at the end of the day, it\u2019s football.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Booker has quickly won over Cowboys fans with his infectious personality and unmistakable confidence in his game.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor one, I would say turn on the tape,\u201d Booker said. \u201cBecause for three years at Alabama, I just straight up dominated. I was a dude at the University of Alabama. I was that guy. Actually, for three years straight. And it takes a lot for a person to be that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dallas will be on the clock in the second round with pick No. 44. The Cowboys also have pick No. 76 in the third round.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty Images The Dallas Cowboys have been dubbed as a top landing spot for Ezekiel Elliott. The\u00a0Dallas Cowboys\u00a0may not be done with\u00a0Ezekiel Elliott. Elliott remains a free&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43972,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Ezekiel Elliott-Cowboys Reunion Teased Following First Round of Draft - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=43971\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ezekiel Elliott-Cowboys Reunion Teased Following First Round of Draft - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getty Images The Dallas Cowboys have been dubbed as a top landing spot for Ezekiel Elliott. 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