Former Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott narrows choice down to Eagles, Jets, Bengals

Former Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott has reportedly narrowed his options in free agency down to three teams, according to Adam Schefter.

The NFL insider reported Thursday that Elliott is down to the Philadelphia Eagles, the New York Jets and the Cincinnati Bengals for the 2023 season with a decision coming by the end of next week, or at least that’s the hope.

After leading the Cowboys’ run game in each season since his rookie year, Elliott heavily split time with Pollard in 2022, resulting in the least productive season so far for the 27-year-old.

Elliott totaled 876 rushing yards in the regular season and just 53 rushing yards in the two postseason games. Meanwhile, Pollard notched his first 1,000-yard rushing season and made the Pro Bowl.

Over 103 career NFL regular season games for Dallas, however, he rushed for 8,262 yards with 68 rushing touchdowns.

Hailing from Ohio State, Elliott was the No. 4 overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. He has four 1,000+ yard rushing seasons through seven seasons with Dallas. He is a three-time Pro Bowl and two-time All-Pro selection and he led the NFL in rushing yards in 2016 and 2018.

More on the 2023 NFL offseason, free agency

The NFL 2023 calendar year began at 4 p.m. ET on March 15. At that time, contracts running through 2022 officially ran out, making those players free agents.

Prior to the beginning of free agency, teams had a chance to designate one franchise or transition tag player, starting on Feb. 21 at 4 p.m. ET and ending on March 7. The Cowboys used their franchise tag this year on Tony Pollard.

The legal negotiation period spanned from March 13 through March 15. The new year marked the beginning of all trades going official per the league office. April 21 marks the deadline to sign restricted free agents to offer sheets. On April 26, the deadline for teams to match restricted free agent offers sheets hits.

There were 722 players due to hit free agency in 2023, including 20 unrestricted free agents for Dallas. Follow all the Cowboys free agency news with the offseason tracker.