IRVING, Texas – The stalking Emmitt Smith comparison came for Ezekiel Elliott on Day One. Inevitably. Predictably. As it will for a long, long time.

Enveloped by cameras and microphones on his first day of rookie minicamp, a visitor lobbed the question to Elliott, asking whether he considered wearing Emmitt Smith's No. 22 jersey. Those are arguably the most sacred digits in Dallas, right along with Troy Aikman's No. 8 and the PIN to owner Jerry Jones' American Express Black Card.

"That's just something you don't do," Elliott said. "That's a guy who worked so hard and accomplished so much in this organization. It would've been kind of disrespectful just to try to wear his number."

View photos Stephen and Jerry Jones have strong faith in Ezekiel Elliott's abilities. (AP) More

It was nifty avoidance. The kind of thing that made Elliott the No. 4 pick in the NFL draft. But the underlying theme – that Elliott is expected to be supremely special – is also a burden he can't evade forever. Not after an offseason that says so much about where the Dallas Cowboys are going and how the franchise's plan is shifting. Whether Elliott is ready to embrace it or not, he is a foundational piece in a critical offseason. He's the first concrete footing to a bridge that will seek to span two eras in Dallas. Specifically, the Super Bowl window centered on quarterback Tony Romo, and the Super Bowl window without Romo.

That's what the 2016 offseason has become for Dallas. First came the detonating of all avenues back to defensive end Greg Hardy. Then came a muted push in free agency. And finally, a draft that changed the long-term construct, one that maximizes the Romo window while simultaneously pivoting out of it during his descending years.

Cowboys CEO Stephen Jones summed it up better than anyone on draft day. At the time, he was speaking of Elliott, but he could have been making a sweeping remark about this entire offseason.

"We're really convinced that at the end of the day, this was the guy that did the most all the way around for our football team," Stephen Jones said.

Elliott can run, block and catch. He can be a piece that Romo can lean on – and a lynchpin in an offensive plan that aims to score big, dominate tempo and protect the defense with sustained rest. But on another level, Stephen Jones and the Cowboys brain trust is thinking forward. Along with his father Jerry, trusted personnel man Will McClay and head coach Jason Garrett, the design is changing. And it's no longer just about making the most of Romo, which has long been the first directive. Now it's about preparing for life after Romo.

That means finding the next offensive centerpiece. And that player is Elliott.

How the franchise arrived at that decision might be just as important as the decision itself. While many have sold Elliott as solely as a Jerry Jones pick, one high-level league source close to Jones said that is an archaic read on a power structure that has become more flexible and reliable. The source described Cowboys personnel decisions as "a four-man committee with Jerry Jones as chairman." In the event there is a crossroads on a move, Jerry Jones and head coach Jason Garrett often form one consensus, while Stephen Jones and McClay form another. The two sides will then work through a decision, with Jerry Jones having the final call over whichever approach he finds most prudent. And Jerry Jones hasn't simply been leaning his own way.

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