EditorialNFL

Eagles Rebuild: “Right Price” for DeMarco Murray?

By Zach Martin
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Whoo, boy. Chip Kelly didn’t exactly leave a legacy behind in Philadelphia, did he?

News broke Monday afternoon that linebacker Kiko Alonso and cornerback Byron Maxwell are expected to be traded to the Miami Dolphins when the league’s free agency period begins next week.

In case you’ve forgotten (or, simply chosen to ignore) the many moves of Kelly’s tenure with the team, Alonso and Maxwell were just two of the splashier personnel moves made last offseason. Alonso was the other side of the LeSean McCoy trade which now looks like a total wash.

Maxwell was previously a member of the “Legion of Boom” with the Seattle Seahawks before leaving in free agency to sign a six-year, $63-million contract with Philadelphia, but was…slightly underwhelming in 2015-2016.

Meanwhile, reports out of Philadelphia suggest the team isn’t done trading.

Why might they do that, one wonders?

Let’s take a look at the tale of the tape:

Games Rushing Receiving
Year G GS Att Yds TD Lng Y/A Y/G A/G Tgt Rec Yds Y/R TD Lng R/G Y/G YScm
2015 15 8 193 702 6 54 3.6 46.8 12.9 55 44 322 7.3 1 44 2.9 21.5 1024
And then Mathews:
Games Rushing Receiving
Year G GS Att Yds TD Lng Y/A Y/G A/G Tgt Rec Yds Y/R TD Lng R/G Y/G YScm
2015 13 6 107 539 6 63 5.0 41.5 8.2 28 20 146 7.3 1 23 1.5 11.2 685
So, combined, the two were around a league-average running back who happened to score an awful lot of touchdowns. What becomes immediately apparent, however, is the ridiculousness which occurred last off-season when both players signed with the team; Kelly wanted two starting running backs and got two spot starters with injury problems running behind a porous offensive line.
Here we are, then, at the beginning of the 2016 league year and new head coach Doug Pederson seems to want absolutely nothing to do with anything (or anyone) Kelly brought to the team.
Do I blame him? Not necessarily. Reports from various sources and ex-players have showed Kelly in a less-than-flattering light, and the best and most cliched way to express power by a new coach is by cleaning house.
The draft picks the Eagles will receive from Miami for Maxwell and Alonso aren’t known at this point, but even so they won’t be huge impacts on a team whose defense finished 30th in yards allowed and 28th in points allowed last season. The Eagles are a team who just expressed faith in the long term success of Sam Bradford. The Eagles are a team who lost the division to Washington last season. The Eagles are, well, not very good.
Which brings us to the question posed in the headline. What exactly would be the “right price” for DeMarco Murray, the man who had one meteoric season in a string of pedestrian ones? If we examine some potential landing spots for 2014’s Offensive Player of the Year, it could bring up some interesting ideas:

Dallas Cowboys

It doesn’t really matter what a member of the Cowboys says anonymously about Murray, because the market has already spoken. The Cowboys already decided that Murray was not worth $8 million in 2016.
– David Murphy, Philly.com

So, no. Not really. The Cowboys can most likely sign Matt Forte for less than they’d need to sign Murray, even if Forte decides to not chase a championship with the New England Patriots.

New England Patriots

Bill Belichick seems to take egregious pleasure in eschewing traditional football techniques. “Use the run to set up the pass” is almost a joke to him, as evidenced by his Week 7 game plan against the New York Jets. The Patriots ran the ball exactly nine times, gaining 16 yards.
They, of course, still won the game because traditionalism and common sense don’t apply to this particular coach or team.
That said, Belichick could have designs on Murray, but only if the Eagles were to cut him outright and the team could pay him just above the veteran minimum; the Patriots are already down one first-round draft pick in 2016, and should be loathe to give up any in a trade. Forte, on the other hand, has already been released by the Bears so he would cost nothing more than money.

Washington Football Franchise

With stalwart Alfred Morris reportedly not receiving a new contract offer before the start of free agency, Washington seems to be planning to lean on second-year man Matt Jones to carry much of the workload this coming fall.

However, Jones is…not exactly being handed the starting job on a platter.

In their offseason deliberations, Redskins coaches and talent evaluators must determine whether they believe Jones has the capability to improve upon his problem areas and grow to become a more well-rounded back in Year 2.

 

– Mike Jones, Washington Post

The likelihood of Washington making a trade for Murray is low, but as he seems to not care about signing with a division rival, it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility for a fourth-round pick.

New York Giants

Here’s something worth noting: the Giants haven’t had a solid, big-talent starting running back since Tiki Barber. Hell, two years ago they started Peyton Hillis in a game. Peyton Freaking Hillis.

Embed from Getty Images

Remember him? Madden cover in 2012? No…? Well, can’t say I don’t blame you.

Now imagine how much damage Eli Manning and Odell Beckham, Jr. could do in new head coach Ben McAdoo’s offense if they actually had a running game defenses had to account for, for a measly third- or fourth-round draft pick?

I shudder to think.

 

Ultimately, the “right price” for Murray seems to be one that puts him somewhere he can be the clear starter in a system best suited for his particular skill set.

So, you know, exactly the same price for every football player ever. He’s grown too big for his proverbial stretchy britches, and may find himself out of a job entirely sooner rather than later if he believes one amazing (and amazingly injury-free) season should guarantee him a paycheck befitting an elite talent.

The Eagles will most likely not find a trade partner for Murray and instead release him; teams are less and less likely to make offseason trades for veterans when they can instead save by signing a waived player. This situation is no exception.

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