Ezekiel Elliott's mom celebrates 53rd birthday with ex-Cowboys star by sending heartwarming message

Ezekiel Elliott is looking for a team to play for in the 2025 season after his return to the Dallas Cowboys failed to reproduce the dominance of his initial stint. As he awaits the beginning of the new league year, he has decided to take a break from his job hunt to celebrate an important milestone.

On Thursday, the multiple-time rushing champion's mother Dawn turned 53 years old. In commemoration, she took to social media to post a picture of the two with sister Lailah, accompanied by the following message:

"Grateful for another year of love, laughter, blessings and aging like fine wine. Cheers to 53 years of adventures!"

Dawn was a former track runner for Missouri, where she met her future husband (and Elliott's father) Stacy, who was a linebacker for the same school.

Ezekiel Elliott's other sister Aaliyah is an incoming freshman jumper/hurdler at his alma mater, Ohio State.

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How will Cowboys replace Ezekiel Elliott? Analysts have differing predictions

As mentioned before, Ezekiel Elliott's second stint as a Cowboy failed to match the excitement that the announcement generated. He had career lows in carries and yards as he was comprehensively outplayed by Rico Dowdle, who became a thousand-yarder for the first time in his career.

One notable free agency option is current Cleveland Brown Nick Chubb. General manager Andrew Berry has hinted at moving on from the four-time Pro Bowler after seven seasons, and Last Word on Sports' David Latham believes that he can be a good fit for America's Team provided he proves fully healthy:

"Nick Chubb shouldn’t cost much as a free agent, and the veteran has the track record to handle a three-down role. If he can return to form with more time to recover from his knee injury, he could be a solid buy-low candidate that could easily outplay a cheap one-year contract."

He is also a prime free agency option for team writer Patrik Walker, who also mentions Najee Harris, Aaron Jones, JK Dobbins, and Javonte Williams.

In the Draft, the Cowboys are most heavily linked to Boise State phenom Ashton Jeanty. But FanSided's Rucker Haringey has a different player in mind - Quinshon Judkins, who like Ezekiel Elliott attended Ohio State:

"Judkins can't give the Cowboys offense the same kind of juice that Jeanty can, but he can be acquired at a much more reasonable price. That makes drafting him the superior play for a Dallas roster that has several high-profile holes to fill via this year's draft. Getting the next Elliott outside of Round 1 would be a nice value play for Dallas."

The new league year will begin on March 12, while the Draft will be held from April 24 to 26.