Has to be said on bringing back Murray

[Bullflop]

The reteric regarding Murray at this point in time is just that -- mere reteric. It sounds fine to hear Murray saying how he wants to return and that winning a championship is foremost on his mind. The thing is, no matter what Murray is saying, what he does in terms of making himself financially affordable will probably make the diference between his being retained and moving elsewhere.

I don't expect Romo and Witten to re-do their contracts, though, since the organizational goal these days appears to favor remaining cap-friendly. That entails avoiding the sort of expensive contractual ventures that this organization has granted in the past. We seem immersed in a new era when it comes to how this franchise chooses to handle its salary cap structure. Expensive contracts and paying big bucks to vet free agents are more likely to be pushed aside in favor of a sound salary structure.

With Stephen, Garrett and Will McClay guiding things and Jerry stepping aside to permit their unfettered input. It remains to be seen whether or not Murray will be willing to give his team an affordable break, as opposed to defecting to the highest paying suitor in the months ahead. I suspect he'll choose to tend to his business interests and do what suits himself and his family the best. One could hardly blame him for that.

 

[Fredd]

I was originally on the "we can get someone else if Murray is too expensive" side of the fence....I am now on the "I wish they would keep he band together" side of the fence...I don't want the FO to spend needlessly, but keeping your stars in place while building around them through the draft seems to the be the best option to me....they just got the offense to championship caliber, replacing Murray with someone else is a step back...I don't see AP coming to Dallas UNLESS Murray signs somewhere else first...and even then, AP would have to get cut by minny......there is no way that you trade anything for AP and absorb his contract....plus, AP has to be reinstated by the league (april 15th I think I saw) first???

just bring back murray

 

[starfrombirth]

I've never once taken a pay cut. Not once.

If you're with a company that asks you to do this you might want to get a better job.

Maybe you haven't but people do.its a reality in todays world. And just like murray you can refuse the offer but there is always a chance that grass isn't greener on the other side.

 

[Risen Star]

Lord help this team if the QB and the TE are making personnel decisions.

 

[xwalker]

I don't know how someone can call out Murray for his fumbles and then be okay with Peterson. Adrian has had a far worse fumbling problem in his career than Murray has.

Regular season stats:

Murray 1 fumble every 92 touches

Peterson 1 fumble every 73 touches

 

[xwalker]

Yeah! Isn't fairness what this world is all about?

Acquiring Peterson is a pipedream that will never and should never happen. He is currently commanding a salary twice that of what the Cowboys have offered Murray. Trust me, Peterson isn't going to take that kind of pay cut to play in Dallas.

Keeping Murray isn't going to be easy. If it happens I'll be thankful but not keeping him won't be the worst thing that ever happen to Dallas. There are other options at the RB position that will do just fine.

We have no idea what salary Peterson is "commanding".

 

[big dog cowboy]

Regular season stats:

Murray 1 fumble every 92 touches

Peterson 1 fumble every 73 touches

Is that a fumble or fumble lost? Because it seems we lost every one of Murray's fumbles.

 

[xwalker]

Is that a fumble or fumble lost? Because it seems we lost every one of Murray's fumbles.

Fumble. Recovering the fumble is partially the responsibility of other players so I don't see the point of comparing lost fumbles when comparing RBs.

Murray: 66% of fumbles lost

Peterson: 61% of fumbles lost

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Has to be said.... Hum....

I'll tell you what I think. I think that anybody who favored signing Tony to the contract we did should not complain if Murray is not resigned and, they should not be in favor of trying to go out and bring in a high priced FA if that is not what the team wants. Everybody knew that the contract for Tony would probably impact the teams ability to resign other players/FAs.

People will say that we could restructure or rework Tony's deal or what have you but, that may not be what the team wants. If they do not want to do that, then so be it.

I really like Murray and if a good deal can be worked out, I'm all for it but if not, and you guys know who you are, don't want to hear it. This is what comes with paying players 100s of Millions of Dollars.

 

[MWH1967]

What world do you live in??? People take pay cuts all the time in todays economy to keep the company they work for afloat and they can keep their jobs.

I can second that one brother.....how ever, a NFL player may have declined qualities of life after football so, i say pay them. Just don't tell my c0-worker Dale about this conversation. He had his foot run over by a forklift last week.

 

[joseephuss]

Has to be said.... Hum....

I'll tell you what I think. I think that anybody who favored signing Tony to the contract we did should not complain if Murray is not resigned and, they should not be in favor of trying to go out and bring in a high priced FA if that is not what the team wants. Everybody knew that the contract for Tony would probably impact the teams ability to resign other players/FAs.

People will say that we could restructure or rework Tony's deal or what have you but, that may not be what the team wants. If they do not want to do that, then so be it.

I really like Murray and if a good deal can be worked out, I'm all for it but if not, and you guys know who you are, don't want to hear it. This is what comes with paying players 100s of Millions of Dollars.

That is what comes with paying decent QBs, which you have to do in today's NFL. The going rate for guys like Joe Flacco, Andy Dalton and Matt Ryan is up there and Romo is better than them.

Unfortunately you can't keep everyone. Every team will have some area of weakness. Both teams in this Superbowl are weak at wide receiver. If you don't sign Romo to his extension Dallas could keep Murray and Bryant, but they would probably be in bad shape at QB. Pick your poison. I'm guessing most teams would pick to have the decent QB.

 

[Eskimo]

For the last couple weeks all I'm hearing is how much Romo is pleading with Jerry to keep Murray, how Murray wants to stay and cares more about a super bowl than money, and how Jason Witten doesn't think Murray can be replaced.

If Romo and Witten want Murray back so much, and Murray wants to be back and thinks a super bowl is more important than money, there should be no reason why between the three of them, they can't do some team friendly super bowl oriented adjustments to their salaries and salary demands.

I'm squarely in the Adrian Peterson camp. If he is available he should become a Cowboys. That means if he is released or can be traded for a small sum.

I think glossing over Murray's fumbles, especially in a key playoff game, doesn't do justice to how hard the rest of the players played this year. I like Murray a lot, but this team is bigger than him. If he does come back it shouldn't be at a great cost. And Romo and Witten who have made more money than they can spend in a lifetime should focus more on cementing their legacies (in this man's opinion).

I'd like to see this team make a statement next year, and two players who could help make that happen by more than just their performances on the field are clearly Witten and Romo.

You have to be careful about letting player play "GM". Look at how Lebron took what should have been a good opportunity in Cleveland and really messed things up compared to if they had just stuck with the team they had and traded for a decent Center to provide some defense and rebounding.

I think the same thing is true here. Romo likes having Murray around over the past 4 years and trusts him. The problem is the cap is a zero sum game and we need to invest in Dez and the defense if we want to take the next step. We can replace Murray without huge investments in picks and cap space without losing much on offense. The key to our offense was the passing game. Most of our best passing situations occurred with an empty backfield where the run game threat was irrelevant. The only reason we ran so much was to keep the defense off the field but it also probably reduced our overall offensive efficiency by putting us in a lot of 3rd downs that we might have otherwise converted on first or second down with Romo's ypa and accuracy.

Mission #1 is get Dez inked to a deal around $12-13M/yr over 6-7 years.

Mission #2 is to upgrade the DL. I want at least one second-tier DE pass rusher added to the mix in FA.

Mission #3 is to secure some LBs. I want 2/3 of Durant, McClain and Carter brought back.

Mission #4 is to fix the CB situation. I think we should bring back Carr but we can't pay him an $8M salary.

Mission #5 is to re-sign one of our RTs.

Mission #6 is to draft BPA when possible but I'd like 2 DL taken in the first 3 rounds.

Mission #7 is to add to our RB situation (Randle, Dunbar, Williams). I'd prefer to add a RB in the 3rd round but would accept an elite RB in the mid-2nd round if Gurley or Gordon fall to there in a trade-down scenario. Otherwise I like Ajayi in the 3rd.

We can compete next year but the keys other than Romo's health is to improve our defense against the pass. Part of that will be some slight jigging to our scheme (I think we need to play more man coverage with OScan, Carr and Mo), natural improvement expected from DLaw and Crawford and the additions we get from FA and the draft.

 

[65fastback2plus2]

One of the most mind boggling things to me is reading fans want NFL players to take pay cuts while in their primes. It just sounds insane to me. But no one would even entertain if someone at their job told them to take a pay cut despite doing their job and well.

it comes from the idea that we can decide when someone else has excess and too much. Then, we decide we should tax the pants off of them to take some of it back.

 

[BAZ]

Lord help this team if the QB and the TE are making personnel decisions.

At least that would put a stop to wasting 2nd rounders on tight ends.

 

[JDSmith]

One of the most mind boggling things to me is reading fans want NFL players to take pay cuts while in their primes. It just sounds insane to me. But no one would even entertain if someone at their job told them to take a pay cut despite doing their job and well.

I disagree completely. Sure, if a guy needs to earn the money to actually survive, or live a good life, then it's tough to suggest he take a pay cut. But unless I'm mistaken Romo got 55 million guaranteed. Any normal person could live 50 lifetimes on that with no problem. For someone to suggest that maybe a player could get by with 50 million guaranteed instead is not remotely mind boggling in my opinion. What's mind boggling is the fact that the $5,000,000 difference isn't even 10% of the value of the guaranteed money.

 

[JDSmith]

Or, you can look at the fact the team has no answer if Romo has to retire and we win now or never with him. And it's not your money they are spending.

By the way, Peterson has 31 fumbles in his career.

Peterson scares me, he fumbles at a higher rate than Murray and people keep talking about how a big season will kill a RB. Well, Peterson had 424 touches in 2012 and then followed it up in 2013 by dropping 1.4 ypc. Maybe all of those touches in 2012 ruined him, nobody really knows, and he's over 30. It would suck to pay big money for the guy only to find out that he is done.

 

[Galian Beast]

People who want to focus on Peterson's fumbles should look at the entire picture:

Adrian Peterson has 31 career fumbles, 20 of which came in the first 3 years of his career. He also has 86 rushing touchdowns and 5 receiving touchdowns, for a total of 91 touchdowns in 104 games (97 starts).

Murray on the other hand has 28 rushing touchdowns and 1 receiving touchdown in 53 games (47 starts).

Touchdowns per fumble? 2.935 to 2.23.

It's not even close. Adrian Peterson is a playmaker with abilities that Murray doesn't have.

 

[DCBoysfan]

Most NFL fans aren't millionaires who make millions of dollars every year, and every additional million makes no difference in their life style.

They also don't have jobs that relate to a salary cap where their salary directly reduces the salary and thus quality of their co-workers....

Apples and oranges.

I disagree, a million dollars is a million dollars, to lose or have the opportunity to not earn it, will make a difference regardless what your contract is.

Also if a employer has employees making salaries that exceeds profit then odds are the employer will not be in business long. Salaries will need to be inline with the employers profit margin to maintain sustainability.

 

[BAZ]

People who want to focus on Peterson's fumbles should look at the entire picture:

Adrian Peterson has 31 career fumbles, 20 of which came in the first 3 years of his career. He also has 86 rushing touchdowns and 5 receiving touchdowns, for a total of 91 touchdowns in 104 games (97 starts).

Murray on the other hand has 28 rushing touchdowns and 1 receiving touchdown in 53 games (47 starts).

Touchdowns per fumble? 2.935 to 2.23.

It's not even close. Adrian Peterson is a playmaker with abilities that Murray doesn't have.

If you are looking at the entire picture then take into account Peterson was always the focus if the offense Murray was only that this season.

 

[JDSmith]

People who want to focus on Peterson's fumbles should look at the entire picture:

Adrian Peterson has 31 career fumbles, 20 of which came in the first 3 years of his career. He also has 86 rushing touchdowns and 5 receiving touchdowns, for a total of 91 touchdowns in 104 games (97 starts).

Murray on the other hand has 28 rushing touchdowns and 1 receiving touchdown in 53 games (47 starts).

Touchdowns per fumble? 2.935 to 2.23.

It's not even close. Adrian Peterson is a playmaker with abilities that Murray doesn't have.

Not last time he played. The last time he had a meaningful number of snaps was in 2013. He had 279 carries for 1266 yards, another 29 catches for 171 yards.

On those 308 touches he scored 11 TDs and fumbled 5 times. 2.2 TDs per fumble.

Everyone seems to ignore the fact that after his monster 2,007 yard season in 2012 he took a huge step back in production.