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It's a foregone conclusion that Bryant is not going anywhere.
Owner Jerry Jones and vice president Stephen Jones have stated a number of times they will use the franchise tag on Bryant if they can't come to terms on a long-term deal.
So the notion that it will be “a challenge” to keep both Bryant and Murray only means that the NFL’s leading rusher is the odd man out on the priority list.
The Cowboys have no intention of paying both Bryant and Murray top market value for their respective positions.
The decision on Murray has a lot to do with the continued decline value of the running back position and the use-them-up, spit-them-out attitude toward running backs across the league in general.
Add in an offensive line, considered the best in the NFL and one many think a number of backs could have success behind, and the Cowboys have little interest in paying top dollar for Murray on a long-term deal.
It all makes sense, especially when you add in the historic trend of running backs seemingly falling off a cliff after 370 or more carries in a season.
Murray had a career-high 392 carries to go along with another 57 receptions for 416 yards.
But what's also true is that the Cowboys won't be the same team without Murray. And they need to find a way to make the money work if they hope to build on the success they had in 2014.
Quarterback Tony Romo may have ended up as the team's most valuable player, but Murray proved to be the foundation to the Cowboys' run to a 12-4 record and their first NFC East title since 2009, which ESPN's Ed Werder aptly points out.
The biggest difference between 8-8 and 12-4 for #Cowboys was @DeMarcoMurray, who protected Tony Romo and allowed defense to lower snaps
— Ed Werder (@Edwerderespn) January 16, 2015
Murray gave them their identity on offense with his physical style and penchant for moving the chains with dirty, little runs that often turned into big gainers late in the game.
The offensive line fed off of him as much as he thrived because of their dominance up front.
The Cowboys fed off of him in a way that his 1,845 yards doesn't come close to measure.
“He had a fantastic year, obviously,” head coach Jason Garrett said. “He’s been a great football player really ever since he got here. He’s a complete back. He’s a great runner, receiver, blocker; all the things that you want a running back to do. Just beyond the production, to rush for the number of yards he rushed for, to have the number of carries that he had, I just thought he was amazing week in and week out.
“But I think that idea of his mindset, his mentality, his demeanor, his toughness, I think that really, really helped the identity of our football team. In many ways, he established the identity of our football team. The offensive line was a big part of it, to be able to hand the ball to a guy again and again and again and for him to be consistently performing at the level he performed, I thought it was really, really impressive. And again, I think it pervaded our offensive unit, pervaded our whole football team and made us all better.”
Again, the difficult part for the Cowboys is finding a way to make it work financially for Murray. He will be 27 years old next season, and he needs to maximize his dollars now.
This is his last and only chance to get market value in free agency.
The four-year, $16 million contract the Cowboys offered Murray before the season is insulting and disrespectful to even bring up now.
He certainly won't get an Adrian Peterson contract, which averaged $14.3 million and came with $36 million in guaranteed money when he signed it in 2011.
The money for running backs has come way down since then. The best deal in free agency last year went to Chris Johnson, who got $8 million over two years from the New York Jets to leave the Tennessee Titans.
But Johnson was a running back on the decline.
Murray is in the prime of his career, coming off his best season.
The Cowboys could placate him like the Kansas City Chiefs did Jamaal Charles with a two-year, $18.1 million contract extension last year.
It would give Murray real value and prevent the Cowboys from investing long term into a position that has supposed diminishing returns.
Either that or use the transition tag, which would come with a one-year price tag of roughly $9 million in 2015.
The bottom line is the Cowboys need to find a way to keep Murray. Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith said as much on a local radio show.
RIGHT NOW on @1053TheFan - Emmitt Smith on Murray's Cowboys future, "From a chemistry standpoint, every player would want Demarco back"
— Troy Hughes™ (@TommySledge) January 12, 2015
The benefits of a bruising runner to a physical football team will be on full display in the Super Bowl Feb. 1.
Running back Marshawn Lynch may epitomize the identity of the Seattle Seahawks more than their top-ranked defense. LeGarrette Blount turned beast mode in leading the New England Patriots back to the big dance for the sixth time.
Garrett certainly noticed. But he felt Murray did the same for the Cowboys all season, but especially when he didn't miss a game after surgery to repair a fractured hand.
“What he did for our football team after he broke his hand I thought was really significant,” Garrett said. “After that ballgame, he looked me in the eye and said, ‘I’m playing.’ I had a conversation with him on the plane that night, ‘I’m playing.’ The next day, ‘I’m playing.’ After his surgery, ‘I’m playing.’ He went out two days later and practiced, and then three days later and played.
“I think that really, really pervaded our team to understand what he was all about and what our team was all about. That was big.”
Murray's mindset, mentality and physicality meant everything to the Cowboys.
The Cowboys wouldn’t be the same without him. They need to find a way to keep him.
Clarence Hill covers the Cowboys for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. All quotations obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
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