The Dallas Cowboys and DeMarco Murray have parted ways, which means the NFL’s leading rusher last season is now a free agent. His numbers from last season don’t mean he’s going to have it easy in the market with the kind of contract he’s looking for.
There are two very simple explanations as to why DeMarco Murray isn’t going to get the payday he’s been looking for in this free agency.
The first has less to do with him and more with the direction the NFL has been going in for quite some time. It’s not about ostracizing the running back, but it’s about not putting him on a pedestal. The common line of thought in the NFL suggests that passing is more important and in any case, a good offensive line generates the rushing yards, not the running back.
And then there’s Murray himself. He’s always been good. But best in the league? The Cowboys had the best offensive line in the NFL last season when it came to blocking. Murray also had an absurd amount of touches (449) which is often followed with a very quick decline in the next couple of years. Teams don’t want to invest so much money in that, although we have seen the Bills extending LeSean McCoy with a five-year, $40 million deal.
But not a lot of teams are desperate for a chance like the Bills, and there’s a reason they haven’t been to the playoffs since 1999; someone hasn’t been running the ship in the right way. Adrian Peterson is the exception, Murray? Undetermined, plus there’s an injury everyone is always worrying about.
The Cowboys made the right choice by going with Dez Bryant and not Murray. Maybe they’ll still be together, once Murray realizes that asking for a long term deal on $8 million a season isn’t going to get him a job with anyone.