Cowboys' Ezekiel Elliott Talks Contract: 'Great to Be Home' After Patriots Stint | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott is thrilled to be back in town after a one-year stint with the New England Patriots.

"It feels great to be home," Elliott told DallasCowboys.com staff writer Patrik Walker. "I definitely missed being here. I missed this building. I missed Cowboys' nation. I'm definitely excited and ready to get this thing going."

Elliott played his first seven seasons with Dallas, amassing three Pro Bowl appearances and two rushing titles. He had 10,598 total yards and 80 touchdowns during that span.

Dallas released Elliott after the 2022 season in a salary cap-related move. He then linked up with the Pats for one year and led the team with 955 total yards alongside five scores.

In his last year in Dallas, Elliott shared the backfield with Tony Pollard. That won't be the case in 2024, with Pollard now a Tennessee Titan after signing a three-year deal to leave town.

Elliott looks like the RB1 in Dallas now, though, especially after the Cowboys didn't draft any running backs. He'll lead a running back room that for now includes Rico Dowdle, Deuce Vaughn, Royce Freeman, Malik Davis, Hunter Luepke, Snoop Conner and UDFA Nathaniel Peat.

That puts Elliott in an opportunity to be the leader on and off the backfield, a chance he looks forward to.

"Just being in this league for as long as I have been, and being comfortable with who I am, and having as many reps as I have, I can focus on bringing other guys along and help them find their way," Elliott told Walker.

" … A lot of skilled guys and guys with a lot of different talents [in our RBs room]. It'll be exciting to work with them, push each other and help each other become better football players."

Elliott, who inked a one-year, $3 million deal to return to town, comes back to a Cowboys team that went 12-5 last year, good enough for an NFC East title and the No. 2 seed.

Dallas fell 48-32 to the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Wild Card Round but returns much of the talent that led to the regular season success.

Elliott isn't as efficient as he once was, rushing for a career-low 3.5 yards per carry last year. But he's still a productive workhorse capable of handling the bulk of the backfield touches, as he showed in New England. He'll presumably assume that role in Dallas once again, now, as the Cowboys move forward to 2024.