Where Did Ezekiel Elliott Get Traded To?

Ezekiel Elliott is an American professional football running back for the Dallas Cowboys of the NFL. Elliott has been a tremendous athlete since his youth and his skills as a basketball, baseball and track player have come in very handy for him while playing football. Moreover, both parents were college-level athletes themselves, which could have been a significant factor in Elliott's natural abilities.

Over the course of his college career at the University of Ohio, ‘Zek’ as he is fondly called developed into a powerful runner capable of tormenting defenses. In his rookie year, he did get to see some action on the turf even though he was not the starter. However, he broke out in his sophomore year and the rest was history. An amazing three-year journey with the Buckeyes culminated in 2015 after which he entered the 2016 NFL draft and was selected by the Dallas Cowboys as fourth overall in the 2016 NFL Draft.

Also Read: How tall is Ezekiel Elliott?

Ezekiel Elliott with the Cowboys

As a rookie in the professional league, Zeke took the game by storm. Playing and starting in 15 games, he not only became the go-to number-one option for the Cowboys throughout the year but also led the entire league with the most number of carries. Even when a player leads the league with the most carries, it doesn’t always translate into the most yards over a season, but in Elliott’s rookie year, he was on top of the charts in that category as well.

Setting himself up for a bright future ahead with his exemplary 2016 season, Zeke was expected to improve exponentially. However, an off-the-field incident that involved domestic violence derailed his progress and he was suspended for the first six games of the 2017 season. In spite of several missed games, Elliott nearly rushed for another 1,000 yards over the season finishing just 17 yards shy of the four-figure mark.

Back to his best again, Elliott had a steady two more years with the Cowboys in 2018 and 2019. In 2018, he once again led the league with the most number of yards in the season. Unfortunately, though, Elliott’s production started to falter a bit and he underachieved in the next two seasons as per his high standards. Then came 2022 when Elliott needed to bounce back as he needed to justify his huge 90 million extension which he signed in 2021. Unfortunately, though, Zeke had the worst year of his NFL career and the declining production coupled with the salary cap issues forced the Cowboys to release their former star running back in mid of March 2023.

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Ezekiel Elliott with the New England Patriots

After the Cowboys released Elliot in March, Zeke became a free agent and was on the lookout for teams that could sign him. The former Ohio State player met with a few teams and has finally signed a one year deal with the New England Patriots where he will play out the 2023 NFL season.

This one year deal could work well for both parties as firstly, even though Elliott has had a decline in performance for the past couple of years, it is not a truly alarming situation. There is still hope that he can be back on his A-game soon and maybe this change could once again ignite the fire in his belly to perform better.

Secondly, when it comes to the Patriots, the team could do with an established great running back as their depth in that position is not as good as it should be. Furthermore, Elliott will bring a much better pass blocking game to Foxborough. Of course, Elliott will not be the lone back as he will be paired with the Patriots starter in Rhamondre Stevenson, but this move allows the team to be more flexible while embracing more experience at the same time.

Ezekiel Elliott's return to Dallas Cowboys

Elliott's second stint with the Cowboys started on April 30, 2024, signing one-year deal with the team. The team is special for Elliott as he debuted with them and saw many of his successful seasons with the Cowboys from 2016-2022.