Cowboys owner Jerry Jones hints Ezekiel Elliott return is possible despite release

• NFL

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has indicated that Ezekiel Elliott returning to the team in 2023 remains an option. After the 2022 season ended, the Cowboys cut Elliott after seven seasons. Elliott's numbers have been declining ever since his astonishing rookie season in 2016.

Elliott was set to count $16.7 million against the cap in 2023 and the Cowboys cut him after feeling his production wasn't matching the money he was receiving. “I never shut the door, never relative to the potential to smartly add to our team for this year.

So you name it, whether it be Zeke, whether it be where we are with, like, the guys we worked out here today. So it’s all wide open for me," Jones said, via Yahoo Sports.

Will Elliott return to the Cowboys in 2023?

Nearly three months have passed since the Cowboys cut Elliott.

Elliott, who twice led the NFL in rushing yards, remains unsigned. Also, it doesn't seem that Elliott has received any strong interest since the Cowboys release. Recently, former Cowboys running backs coach Skip Peete told Elliott he needed to accept a lesser role in order to get signed.

“I think that’s part of the reason he’s sitting out there. If you’re going to play, I mean, you’re going to be the second and third guy. That’s kind of what the price is. So. that’s something that a person has to be able to see that that is what it is going to be," Peete said recently.

For seven years, Elliott was featured in the Cowboys' offense. But in recent years, he just wasn't as productive as the Cowboys wanted him to be. However, it is not a secret that Cowboys owner Jones feels nothing but love for Elliott as he has many times defended and spoken very highly of the running back. It remains to be seen if Elliott will return to the Cowboys in 2023.