Bengals Signing Ezekiel Elliott? Buckeyes RB 'Looming Large,' says ESPN

ESPN is reporting that the former Buckeyes great Ezekiel Elliott is 'looming large' in the plans for the Cincinnati Bengals

Author:
Matt Galatzan
Mar 25, 2023 12:55 PM EDT

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Ohio State Buckeyes

Earlier this week, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that three free agency finalists had emerged for former Ohio State Buckeyes star Ezekiel Elliott, who was recently cut by the Dallas Cowboys.

However, that report eventually turned out to be a dramatic stretch of the truth, with it later coming to light that those three teams were just preferences of Elliott's, rather than teams in contact with the running back.

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor even kindly refuted that report in a recent meeting with the media.

"There's a lot of great players that are available right now," Taylor said. "We like our team as where it's at right now. It's always funny when things get thrown around. Sometimes it's the first you hear of it, but that's just the way life works."

Now, ESPN is making another report connecting Elliott to the Bengals. Only this time it's insider Jeremy Fowler, who claims that not only are the Bengals seriously considering Elliott, but that they could potentially be bringing him in as a replacement to star running back, Joe Mixon.

"Talking to some teams and some people around the league, they believe the Bengals here could be looming large," Fowler said on NFL Live. "Because I'm told they're looking to add a running back, either through free agency or the draft. Either to pair with Joe Mixon, or if they were to move on from Mixon, they could save nearly $8 million in cap space.''

While Elliott's power running and pass-blocking skills would certainly be a fit for the Bengals' offense, there has been no indication that the Bengals are set on moving on from Mixon... yet.

Rather, they are simply mulling his future.

"Joe has been a vital part of our team," Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin said during the NFL Combine. "He's been a successful part of our team. Again, I'm not gonna predict the offseason because I don't have the answers. In the words of the great Kevin Malone, 'I don't know.'"

That said, the Bengals did just say goodbye to Mixon backup Samaje Perine, leaving a major void in the backfield that is in need of replacing.

So were Elliott to make his way back to Ohio and join the Bengals, it would likely be with the idea of creating a tandem with Mixon, instead of replacing him altogether.

However, given the state of the running back market, it also seems unlikely that the Bengals would elect to pursue a battered and bruised Elliott, rather than a young prospect via the NFL Draft.

Either way, there are a lot of moving parts to consider with Elliott and Cincinnati, but at the very least, it appears that there is some form of interest there from both sides.