Ezekiel Elliott & Dalvin Cook Interested In Signing With Cowboys

According to Michael Gehlken, veteran RBs Ezekiel Elliott and Dalvin Cook are both interested in potentially signing with the Dallas Cowboys. 

Gehlken talked to Cowboys EVP Stephen Jones, who neither confirmed nor denied the interest being mutual from the team’s end. But he added the connections between the veteran backs and Dallas are worth monitoring. 

For Elliott it would obviously be a reunion with the team he spent his entire career with until last season. Cook played for Cowboys DC Mike Zimmer in Minnesota for all but two years of his career, so there’s plenty of familiarity there as well. 

The Cowboys have had a quiet free agency so far and haven’t materially addressed their need at running back outside of re-signing Rico Dowdle. They also have 2023 sixth-round RB Deuce Vaughn.

Gehlken expects the Cowboys to address the position in the draft but there’s also room to sign another veteran. 

Elliott, 28, was taken with the No. 4 overall pick by the Cowboys back in 2016. He signed a four-year rookie contract worth $24,956,342, which included a signing bonus of $16,350,068.

Elliott was set to make a base salary of $3.85 million for the 2019 season and another $9.1 million in 2020 under the fifth-year option when he elected to hold out for a new deal in 2019. Dallas eventually re-signed him to a six-year, $90 million extension that included $50 million guaranteed. 

The Cowboys designated Elliott a June 1 release before the 2023 season. From there, the Patriots signed Elliott to a contract in August. 

In 2023, Elliott appeared in all 17 games for the Patriots and rushed for 642 yards on 184 carries (3.5 YPC) with three touchdowns to go along with 51 receptions on 65 targets for 313 yards receiving and two touchdowns.

Cook, 28, is a former second-round pick of the Vikings back in 2017. He was in the third year of his four-year, $6.35 million rookie contract and set to make a base salary of $1.13 million for the 2020 season when the Vikings signed him to a five-year, $63 million extension through 2025. 

Cook was due base salaries of $10.4 million and $11.9 million over the next two seasons when the Vikings released him last summer. He caught on with the Jets on a one-year deal worth $7 million but was waived at the end of the season and signed by the Ravens to the practice squad for the playoffs. 

In 2023, Cook appeared in 15 games for the Jets and rushed 67 times for 214 yards (3.2 YPC) and no touchdowns, adding 15 receptions on 20 targets for 78 yards. 

We have both included in our Top Available Free Agents list.