Ezekiel Elliott era done in Dallas

This article was last updated on March 15, 2023

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Ezekiel Elliott era done in Dallas

According to a source familiar with the matter, the Dallas Cowboys are expected to release Ezekiel Elliott, the two-time NFL rushing champion, who is reportedly ready to move on to a new team. This move could take place on Wednesday afternoon when the league’s new calendar begins at 3 p.m., and teams are required to comply with the salary cap.

Elliott’s future has been uncertain since the end of the 2022 season, during which he recorded a career-low 876 rushing yards and a career-low 3.9 yards per carry. This, coupled with Tony Pollard’s emergence as the team’s primary running back, made it inevitable that Elliott would have to take a pay cut or be released. The Cowboys tagged Pollard with a $10.1 million franchise tag, taking the total salary for the running back position to an NFL-record high of $27.68 million in 2023, making Elliott’s departure inevitable.

Although Cowboys owner Jerry Jones stated last month that he hoped to continue with Elliott and Pollard in the 2023 running back rotation, finding a salary that worked for both sides proved to be challenging.

Cutting Elliott will save the Cowboys $4.86 million, or $10.9 million if they designate him a post-June 1 cut. Elliott’s productivity has decreased in recent seasons, and he has surpassed 1,000 rushing yards only once in the past three seasons since signing a six-year, $90 million contract in 2019. This has led to criticism of his effort and performance, which is inconsistent with his value to the team as a leader.

Elliott played through a partially torn posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and suffered a hyperextension of the same knee, causing him to miss two games in 2022. He played the final 10 games of the season with a brace on the knee and did not require surgery in the offseason.

Elliott ends his Cowboys career with 8,262 rushing yards, 68 rushing touchdowns, and 80 total touchdowns, ranking third in franchise history in all three categories behind Emmitt Smith and Tony Dorsett. The Cowboys will now look to the draft and free agency for a new running back, as Pollard is on a one-year franchise tag, and Malik Davis, an undrafted rookie in 2022, is the only other running back on the roster.