What’s left on the Dallas Cowboys’ to-do list? And could Ezekiel Elliott return?

The 2023 NFL Draft was as a solid, deliberate and feel-good process for the Dallas Cowboys as seen around here in years.

There was the focus on stopping the run early with the pick of defensive tackle Mazi Smith in the first round, and the pick of Texas linebacker DeMarvion Overshown in the third round, which came partially on the recommendation of his teammate and owner Jerry Jones’ grandson Paxton Anderson.

And the final day culminated with the teary-eyed spectacle of allowing scout Chris Vaughn make the emotional call to his son, running back Deuce Vaughn, in the sixth round.

But when the draft concluded with the Cowboys adding seven new rookies, talk quickly turned to what still needed to be done to put them over the top in 2023.

As touching as it was to see Vaughn pick his son, the 5-foot-5, 179-pound dynamo from Kansas State, the Cowboys went into the draft looking to find a big back to complement starter Tony Pollard following the decision to release two-time NFL rushing champion Ezekiel Elliott in March.

With Elliott, who was team’s best short-yardage option with 12 touchdowns in 2022, still on the market, is it possible that he fan favorite could return in 2023?

That depends on who you ask.

Jones loves a good headline to keep the Cowboys in the news. And he’s fresh off of pumping up the team’s interest in receiver Odell Beckham before he signed with the Baltimore Ravens when no contact from the Cowboys was made since the end of the season.

So when asked about Elliott, Jones said the expected.

“That ship hasn’t sailed,” Jones said in the wake of the NFL Draft’s conclusion Saturday night. “I haven’t ruled out Zeke.”

“No, no no,” Jones said when asked specifically if the draft ruled out a potential Elliott return. “Not at all. We haven’t made a decision. Nothing we did changes that. As far as our interest in Zeke, nothing we did (in the draft) changes that.”

Well, it takes two to tango.

And per a league source, Elliott has a couple of options he’s planning to pursue post-draft, and a return to the Cowboys is unlikely.

It’s fitting, given the emotions surrounding the team’s decision to release Elliott without even offering him a pay cut to return.

Elliott, 27, was set to count $16.7 million against the salary cap with a $10.9 million non-guaranteed base salary in 2023. He was designated a post-June 1 cut, which means the club will save nearly $11 million against the 2023 cap.

The free-agent market has been a rude awakening for Elliott, coming off a career-low 876 yards in 2022. And while the seven-year veteran still works out with Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and his best-friend is also lobbying for his return, Elliott is eyeing a fresh start elsewhere.

The Cowboys also went into the draft hoping to get a kicker following the decision not to bring back Brett Maher, who turned a strong regular season in 2022 into a tumultuous turn in the playoffs.

Maher made 29-of-32 field goal attempts and 50-of-53 extra-point attempts in the regular season. But he missed five of six extra points in the playoffs.

He became the first kicker in NFL history to miss four extra-point attempts in a single game in the Wild Card Round against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

On Friday, Jones said the Cowboys hoped to get a kicker on the draft and jokingly took a shot at Maher.

“They have a lesser chance of getting the yips, the younger they are,” Jones said.

Of course, the top two kickers, Michigan’s Jake Moody and Maryland’s Chad Ryland, were drafted by the San Francisco 49ers and New England Patriots.

That had Jones changing his kicker strategy after the draft.

“We’ll be looking a more veteran kicker,” Jones said. “We didn’t get the opportunity we thought we’d have. And we had other priorities.”

Among the veteran kickers on the market are Mason Crosby, Ryan Succop and Robbie Gould.