Ezekiel Elliott makes declaration after return to Cowboys announced

It was reported that Elliott’s agent met with the Cowboys before the draft to negotiate a deal. Both parties agreed to a one-year, $3 million contract on Monday, according to ESPN. When the news was first reported, Elliott went to social media to post the eyes emoji to indicate his excitement about playing for the Cowboys.

The Dallas Cowboys always beleived in Ezekiel Elliott

The Cowboys selected Elliott in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft. In his first seven seasons with the team, Elliott led the NFL in rushing twice, was selected to the Pro Bowl three times and was named to the All-Pro Team twice.

“I know this, I saw as recent as the end of the year, I saw Zeke play,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said of Elliott’s work in New England, per Mike Fisher of Athlon Sports. “And I will tell you he’s good enough to be a starter.”

“Zeke, as we all know, is one of our favorites,” Cowboys COO Stephen Jones said. “He’s laid it on the line for this franchise. He’s the ultimate competitor and we obviously think a lot of him. … He has laid it on the line for the Dallas Cowboys and the Dallas Cowboys have laid it on the line for Zeke.”

The question is will Elliott be the team’s starter going into the 2024 season? ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky is confident the Ohio State alum will succeed with the Cowboys, but it depends on how wide receiver CeeDee Lamb plays.

“I mean, Zeke was solid last year behind a really bad offensive line in New England,”Orlovsky said on Get Up. “Here’s the thing that’s going to happen for Dallas. Again, if those two offensive linemen they drafted it in the first three rounds are two good starters, huge for their offensive line. The second element of this, when does CeeDee Lamb show up?”

On3’s Steve Samra contributed to this article.