Cowboys News: Dak Prescott adamant about wanting Ezekiel Elliott back

The 2023 NFL Draft is a week away and all signs point to the Dallas Cowboys drafting a new running back to deploy behind Dak Prescott.

Where they draft a running back remains to be seen, but it feels like the front office understands the importance of onboarding a new partner for Tony Pollard after former starter Ezekiel Elliott was released for cap (and performance) reasons.

Of course, the Cowboys could also defy the odds and bypass drafting a running back. They only have seven picks after they offloaded three -- two fifths (one comp) and a sixth -- to acquire Brandin Cooks and Stephon Gilmore.

Depending how the board falls, Dallas might choose to prioritize other positions. What they do at running back in that scenario remains to be seen, but Prescott made his preference loud and clear appearing on Adam Schefter's podcast.

This comes days after Elliott was spotted working out with Prescott and some of his former Cowboys teammates in the Dak Yard.

Cowboys QB Dak Prescott wants Ezekiel Elliott back on the team

"I know myself, and I can tell you there's a lot of people not only on the team but the organization that would love that," Prescott said. "We understand that this is a business and the market changes and things go up and down, so it doesn't always work out the way we see it, but hopefully, that could happen."

At this juncture, it's unlikely Elliott signs before the draft. The running back market has been slow-moving since free agency started, and even the top free agents -- reigning rushing champ Josh Jacobs chief among them -- have struggled inking big contracts. He was franchise tagged. In terms of non-tagged RBs, Mile Sanders signed for the most money at $6.25 million per year.

The top remaining backs include Elliott, Kareem Hunt, Leonard Fournette, Jerick McKinnon, Kenyan Drake, Latavius Murray, and Justin Jackson.

Both Jerry and Stephon Jones left the door open for a potential reunion, but they also admitted to not making Elliott an offer out of respect for the player. That communicates how little they were prepared to offer, or that whatever they were willing to offer wasn't close to what Elliott wanted.

At the end of the day, Prescott is QB1 and should have some influence in personnel decisions. Further, his comments indicate he's not the only one in the building who would have Elliott back in a pinch so maybe there's smoke by this fire.

Whatever the case, we'll know by next Sunday whether there's room for Elliott on the roster or if he'll suit up with another team in 2023.