Cowboys Poised to Lose Murray Without a Fight

If you truly cherish your girlfriend, you lock her up. You put a ring on it. What do you have if you tell her to go test the open market and come back when she finds a decent offer?

You have yourself an ex-girlfriend.

Call it arrogance, respect, risky or simply a mistake, the Cowboys are about to let the NFL’s leading rusher walk out the door. With no assurances he’ll ever return.

With free agency looming next week, the Cowboys haven’t held serious contract negotiations with running back DeMarco Murray. It’s a sign that they don’t want to set the bar in his bidding process.

But it’s also a strategy that could backfire.

Truth is, Murray will likely get a contract offer from an NFL team in the $6+ million-a-year range. At that point, the Cowboys hope Murray returns to them and allows a chance to match – or beat – the deal. But unless something drastically changes, he won’t. And they can't.

The Cowboys followed a similar game plan last year with all-time sacks leader DeMarcus Ware. They allowed him to flirt with other teams, with the hope he’d give them the final at-bat and home-field advantage. But it took one day for Ware to sign a three-year contract with the Broncos.

Sports Connection

Connecting you to your favorite North Texas sports teams as well as sports news around the globe.

West-leading Stars wrap up playoff spot, beating Canucks Thursday for 6th straight victory

No. 1 UNC upset by No. 4 Alabama 89-87 in March Madness

He felt more wanted in another city. It’s hard to fathom Murray feeling any different.

Murray says he loves Dallas and that playing for a winning team is a priority over money. And the Cowboys maintain that – ideally – they’d love to keep their star running back.

But like they did with Ware, the Cowboys might wind up losing one of their all-time best players … without ever making an official bid to keep him. 

A native Texan who was born in Duncanville and graduated from UT-Arlington, Richie Whitt has been a mainstay in the Metroplex media since 1986. He’s held prominent roles on all media platforms including newspaper (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Observer), radio (105.3 The Fan) and TV (co-host on TXA 21 and numerous guest appearances, including NBC 5). He currently lives in McKinney with his wife, Sybil, and two very spoiled dogs.

Copyright FREEL - NBC Local Media
Contact Us