DeMarco Murray will be playing for this third team in three seasons. The Cowboys will likely spend a high draft pick next month to secure their running back of the future.
In other words, there were no winners from last spring’s dramatic parting of the NFL’s leading rusher and the team that paved the way for his record-breaking 2014 season.
But now that the Eagles have cut their losses and traded Murray to the Titans, we can finally put to rest the silly rumors of Murray returning to Dallas.
(Side note: Does any Sportstropolis have a more severe case of Good-Ol’-Day-Syndrome than DFW? And, I mean, from the fans to the general managers too. The Rangers brought back Pudge Rodriguez and Nolan Ryan and even Mike Napoli. The Mavs re-signed Tyson Chandler and J.J. Barea. The Cowboys last year had a second marriage to Danny McCray and seemingly will never totally play outside the shadows of Tom Landry or Jimmy Johnson.)
The Cowboys offered Murray $12 million guaranteed to stay in Dallas, but he took $21 million and went to Philadelphia.
No hard feelings. Business, after all, is business. And I’m certain the Cowboys at least kicked the tires of a deal that would bring Murray back. They have cap space and, obviously, a need for a running back to at least compliment Darren McFadden.
But no way Dallas would’ve offered Murray the same deal as they did a year ago, and no way they’d be willing to swallow $9 million from his Eagles’ contract. The Cowboys will get a running back without either breaking their bank or parting with multiple draft picks.
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This year McFadden will make $2 million. Systems be damned, he had a better year than Murray in 2015.
In other words, a Murray homecoming was never a serious consideration for the Cowboys. And, for that, we thank them.
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 lives in McKinney with his wife, Sybil, and two very spoiled dogs.
