As Ezekiel Elliott stays away from Cowboys camp, the team will bring back one of his former backups. Alfred Morris has agreed to rejoin the Cowboys, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
Morris was scheduled to visit the Saints, but it looks like he found a more enticing offer with one of his former teams. Morris, 30, played in 28 games for the Cowboys from 2016-17. He closed his first Dallas stint by averaging 4.8 yards per carry for the 2017 Cowboys.
The Cowboys have exchanged proposals with their holdout back, but Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News notes (via Twitter) the last such numbers were discussed July 25. In the meantime, Morris will serve as by far the most experienced backfield option the Cowboys have.
They lost recent Elliott backup Rod Smith to the Giants and drafted both Tony Pollard (Round 4) and Mike Weber (Round 7) this year. Both Pollard and third-year back Darius Jackson (six career carries since being a sixth-round 2016 Cowboys pick) took reps with Dallas’ first-string offense Monday.
Last season, Morris was a late-summer 49ers addition, heading west after Jerick McKinnon tore an ACL. Morris rushed for 428 yards (3.9 per carry) as a 49er. He was the Cowboys’ primary runner during Elliott’s 2017 suspension. While Morris is far removed from his best seasons, two Pro Bowls with the Redskins from 2013-14, he should be relatively fresh. He has taken just 295 handoffs over the past three seasons. And this deal represents some Elliott insurance, with the Cowboys unlikely to carry five tailbacks on their Week 1 53-man roster.
Hope Zeke didn’t burn through all his money…
Call Zekes bluff. Does he really want to wait another year for free agency if he doesn’t report by August 6th?
I won’t be completely surprised if the Cowboys trade him for a haul if they can, ala Hershel Walker.
Never will see a Walker type trade again for a running back. The NFL is a QB league and teams can win with a stable of decent running backs.
Poorly worded on my part. I agree that no RB (maybe no player) will ever bring the return Hershel did. Should have said, “I won’t be surprised if the Cowboys trade him at the height of his tradability.” Can’t imagine they want another Bell situation.
Still don’t quite understand how they want to pay Amari over Zeke
He’s a game changer. You want to compete for a Super Bowl, you pay your best player
He’s great, hut he’s a running back. #1 wide receivers are much harder to find and keep. Morris could step in and be very solid behind that all-pro o-line and it won’t hurt them.
I love Zek. But agreed that a running back is only as good as his o-line. Few exceptions.
Sign Zeke! He will only get more expensive down the road