When asked this week if he regrets signing with the Eagles in the offseason, star running back DeMarco Murray denied having second thoughts. As it turns out, Murray might not be telling the truth. A source with knowledge of the situation tells Mike Florio of PFT there’s “a lot of truth” to the notion that he would like to play for the Cowboys again. That jives with a previous report from Jason Cole of Bleacher Report, who spoke with NFL execs that heard rumblings of Murray wanting to go back to Dallas.
Murray had a remarkable season in 2014, setting a franchise single-season rushing record with 1,845 yards. After running up his odometer, however, the Cowboys made only a so-so effort to retain him. In the offseason, Murray went on to ink a five-year, $40MM deal with the rival Eagles. The deal gave Murray the perfect platform to make Jerry Jones regret his decision, but Philly’s offense has sputtered in 2015.
It might be a little bit early for Cowboys fans to dust off their Murray jerseys, however, as there are a couple of major roadblocks to a trade. First, it’d be fairly surprising to see the Cowboys and Eagles come together to pull the trigger on a trade of this magnitude. Secondly, Murray’s onerous contract will make any trade difficult. As a part of his $40MM pact, Murray is owed a fully guaranteed $7MM in 2016. It’s even harder to see the Eagles saddling themselves with all of the dead money which would come from releasing Murray outright.
Murray, 28 in February, elevated himself into the upper echelon of tailbacks last season when showed that he can stay healthy, produce (4.7 YPC), and work at a nearly unprecedented rate. The advanced numbers also showed that Murray was also at the top of the heap last season. Pro Football Focus‘ numbers (subscription required) resulted in an overall score of 15.2, placing him fifth amongst all tailbacks in 2014. His lack of meaningful production in the passing game, fumbles, and below average blocking were his only real demerits. This season, Murray has run for just 3.5 YPC, a career low.
Derrick Henry up next.
Judging by Murray’s contract, he’ll be an Eagle next year. If he struggles again, then they can release him without taking too big of a hit. Maybe the Cowboys will bring him back then for reasonable money, but he’ll be 29 and coming off back-to-back subpar years under that scenario. Regardless, it’ll be interesting to see how the Cowboys approach the RB position this offseason. Their running game isn’t terrible, but they obviously lack a game-changing back – as Murray was for them in prior seasons. If they find a true No. 1 option by the end of the 2016 season, the chances of a Murray/Cowboys reunion will become even more remote.
“A source with knowledge of the situation tells Mike Florio of PFT”… After hearing nothing but RB drama all week, who doesn’t have “knowledge of the situation?”
Whatever, the guy just finished a press conference stating the exact opposite. Can we just focus on how the Eagles match up against the Bills (or how the Cowboys match up against the Packers)?
Harm Edwards’ commentary about the media frenzy over this kind of crap couldn’t be more spot on.
Personally, If I was last year, an award winner, leading rusher, and gained some fame out of the act. I would want to go back to that place that made me so good. Because to be honest, Murray is just average now. I think it’s a safe bet, that it was mostly that GODLY O-line the Cowboys had last year that got Murray all of those yards, not to exclude Tyler Clutts who is also an impressive fullback. I think you could take any decent average running back and make him a star behind that line. Heck that’s what’s happening to Darren McFadden, he’s not having a season just like Demarcos but it’s be all be it up and up for him. I think Demarco was a bit to high on the ledger when he signed with the Eagles, and the Eagles, oh boy the Eagles. They should have known that it was the O-line that made demarco good with the loss of Jason Kelce they only really had that Right Tackle whos name is escaping me right know as the only real option on the line. I think Chip and the Eagles organization should have realized that they still could have be successful with shady and that clears up 3 things, 1. They don’t trade shady which makes the fan base hate the Eagles. 2. They don’t get Kiko which really has he done anything this year? He might have I just haven’t been paying attention to him. And 3. Chip wouldn’t be on the hot seat because they would have a decent runner in Shady which could take pressure of Foles/Bradford, (like come on that trade wasn’t necessary at all both teams arnt starting then either way.) if this is a TL:DR my basic point is it was the Cowboys O-line and Greg hardy is a jerk.
A huge reason fur Murray not having a good year is Chip Kelly. You sign a guy for a huge contract, just so he can sit on the bench? In the last eagles came, he only ran the ball twice in the second half. Chip Kelly is a complete idiot and the eagles really need to look at firing him!
Not to absolve Kelly of blame, but Murray leads the Eagles in carries by a wide margin and has one of the worst YPC averages in the league. He’s fourth on the Eagles in that category. Is Kelly supposed to force feed the ball to a struggling player just because of his past accomplishments and contract? That’s not a recipe for success.
Last week, Kelly went with the hotter hands – Sproles and Barner – and that helped lead to a win. Murray averaged 3.0 yards on his eight touches against the Pats, Sproles and Barner put up almost 4.9 on their 30. It’s fair to say eight touches isn’t enough to get into a rhythm, but it’s also fair to say Murray didn’t make a case for more playing time when he did get the ball. Sproles and Barner, on the other hand, made the most of the work they got.
If they actually ran Murray up the middle and not keep trying to run him outside his success would be much greater, he is a north south runner who likes the one cut option, something kelly will not let him do
He probably should have thought about this before he went to the Eagirls. He could have been one of the greats in Dallas.
One of the greats or just another player that signs a huge contract and calls it a day.
He was benched last week and when put back in the game he quickly ran hard his first two carries…right out of bounds. He routinely runs right into a wall of defenders instead of geeking it back and finding the hole.