Latest Cowboys news relating to Ezekiel Elliott in free agency has bittersweet taste

In a relative unsurprising free agency report on Saturday, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler revealed the Dallas Cowboys and running back Ezekiel Elliott are mutually interested in a potential reunion ahead of the 2024 NFL season.

Per the report, no deal has been reached but the sides are open to it. This is a significant development following early reports on the Cowboys not reaching out to Zeke in the early days of free agency.

Even if Elliott doesn't reunite with the franchise that drafted him fourth overall back in 2016, he'll occupy $6 million in dead money after being released by the Cowboys last year with a post-June 1st designation.

The news have a bittersweet taste for fans: On the one hand, Elliott won the hearts of the fanbase since that epic rookie season in which the Cowboys went on to the playoffs as the No. 1 seed in the NFC. On the other, Zeke would be brought onboard under very different expectations and it would serve as a sign of how concerning the running back room currently looks.

After all, Elliott has averaged 3.7 yards per attempt over the last couple of seasons and that's with a reduced workload in each of those two years. Both 2022 and 2023 are the seasons in which he's had the lowest snap count, and that's including 2017 when he was suspended for six games and still played more snaps.

Even though a large portion of the Cowboys fanbase claimed the team's red zone offense struggled because of the lack of a hammer in the offense, Elliott only scored three rushing touchdowns for the New England Patriots in 17 games last year and ranked 30th in EPA/attempt among running backs with at least  15 attempts inside the red zone, per Sports Info Solutions. 

This is not to say that the Cowboys wouldn't be wise to sign Elliott.

The running back depth chart is still lacking someone to complement Rico Dowdle and company but he wouldn't be a game-changing addition at all. However, the team has put itself in a spot where an insurance policy like Elliott could be exactly what they need if they don't want to force themselves to use a draft pick in a running back in April.