NFL rumors: Don’t rule out shocking Ezekiel Elliott landing spot

Ezekiel Elliott was released by the Cowboys but his free agency market appears tepid at best. And that opens the door to a shocking eventual landing spot.

Even with the stark decline in performance from Ezekiel Elliott over the past couple of seasons in Dallas, when the Cowboys elected to release the running back earlier this offseason, most fans figured there would be a relatively notable market for the former No. 4 overall pick.

Though one report suggested a number of suitors for Elliott, the market looks almost bare at this point. The Eagles, Jets and Bengals were all rumored to be in on Zeke, but all three have seemingly denied that being the case over the past week.

Meanwhile, Dallas is certainly moving forward with Tony Pollard, who the team franchise tagged earlier this offseason. But as opposed to the Pollard-Elliott combo from years past, they are moving forward with the combo of…well, it might be the Pollard-Elliott combo again.

NFL rumors: Ezekiel Elliott returning to Cowboys is very much in play

On Monday at the NFL owners meetings, Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy was asked about the team releasing Elliott and what’s next. McCarthy not only said that “no one felt good” about cutting Zeke, but added this when asked by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero if the door was open for Elliott returning to Dallas.

“Yeah, definitely,” McCarthy said. “I think you always keep the door open. Absolutely.”

With Elliott’s market not being that hot, it’s been clear from McCarthy, Dak Prescott and all the way up to Jerry Jones that the Cowboys still believed that the running back would have a role to play in the offense moving forward, just not at the price he was at previously.

But with Zeke already getting the rest of his guaranteed money and with the apparent lack of free agency suitors, a return on a much cheaper contract seems very much in the cards. Whether or not that’s the best on-field option, however, remains to be seen.

Given Jerry Jones’ loyalty to Ezekiel Elliott, though, we can’t rule out the possibility of a return — especially after these comments from McCarthy.