Skip Bayless rips Cowboys’ ‘PR move’ in signing Ezekiel Elliott

After a one-year absence from Dallas, the Cowboys are bringing back RB Ezekiel Elliott to solidify their run game. To Skip Bayless, though, this is nothing more than a publicity stunt by Jerry Jones.

Bayless shared his take on the Cowboys’ signing of Elliott on Monday morning during their episode of ‘UNDISPUTED’. He said the move to bring back the familiar face is obviously just a cover up for the fact that the franchise did not address their need at that position in the 2024 NFL Draft.

“Clearly, Jerry Jones and company announced this today to try to ease the pain over his not being able to land a single running back in the seven rounds of the draft,” Bayless said. “It was a PR move to placate Cowboy Nation – ‘Zeke’s back!'”

Elliott is back on a one-year, three million dollar deal per Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Of those three million dollars, two of those are guaranteed in the contract. That all comes about following reported mutual interest and a meeting between the two sides as of recently.

The decision is only worse in Bayless’ opinion when you consider Elliott’s decline during his career. After being amongst the best in the league, his eight seasons in total have seen a drop off statistically. That concerns him about this move too, especially if Elliott will be seeing a majority of the carries.

“Would you believe that ‘Zeke Elliott, in his eight NFL seasons, has gone down in yards per game every single season? That’s hard to do but he has done it,” noted Bayless. “He hit bottom in New England last year where he averaged 38 yards per game.”

“His first three years extraordinary. They were Hall of Fame-type years. Then Jerry paid him and he hit the wall that he used to run through. He drops from 109 a game to 38 a game for New England last year. 3.5 yards per carry, which was a career-low. As we all remember, when he returned to Dallas for that big game, he went six carries for 16 yards and caught two balls for six yards,” Bayless pointed out. “I’m sorry. I don’t see it. He had one good game last year against the Jets, which was 16 carries for 80 yards.”

Dallas released Elliott, a former top-five pick and one of their all-time leading rushers, over a year ago last offseason. They did so after he rushed for 8,262 yards, good for 80.2 per game and 4.4 a carry, and 68 touchdowns. All of those rank him right there in the top-three in rushing in franchise history. It also made him a one-time All-Pro and a three-time Pro Bowler. He was also, over his first three years, led the league in attempts, touches, yards, and yards per game at various points.

Elliott spent this past season in New England. In 2023, he was the Patriots’ leading rusher over 17 games, including just five starts. He rushed 184 times for 642 yards, which averages out to 37.8 per game and 3.5 a carry, and three scores

Elliott returning to America’s Team is, if nothing else, a fun story for Dallas. Still, that’s all that Bayless sees it as with how he views his role upon his return.

“Maybe he’ll help a little bit here and there in short yardage, just going blast from the past.”