Jets HC Robert Saleh seemed to dismiss his team as being interested in signing RB Ezekiel Elliott, per Zack Rosenblatt.
“We’re happy with our running back room,” Saleh said when asked about possibly signing Elliott.
The Jets were one of three teams Elliott was reportedly choosing between last week. Since then, all three have publicly or privately indicated they’re not interested in signing Elliott.
It seems that report was more of an attempt to drum up interest for Elliott than an indication of any real movement behind the scenes.
It’ll be interesting to see what kind of market develops for Elliott, as he has seemingly lacked some of the explosiveness he had earlier in his career. Free agency usually isn’t kind to running backs.
It’s worth noting signing Elliott to a contract won’t count against a new team in the compensatory pick formula.
Elliott, 27, 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.
However, the Cowboys designated Elliott a June 1 release earlier this offseason.
In 2022, Elliott appeared in 15 games for the Cowboys and rushed for 876 yards on 231 carries (3.8 YPC) and 12 touchdowns.
We have him listed in our Top 100 2023 NFL Free Agents list.
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