Bottom line is that it was Murray that was greedy and chose the money over the Cowboys. If he had accepted 3 years for 5 million per season this would all be fine. He wanted to get over paid with a huge contract. Cant blame him, but dont blame the Cowboys. They did the prudent, smart thing.
In my opinion, Murray was never going to accept those terms. LeSean McCoy played in the same division. Murray saw what McCoy was getting paid and he wanted the same type of compensation.
At the same time, the team was never going to offer a McCoy-like contract to Murray. Additionally, the team refused to franchise Murray. The team hoped Murray would settle for its offer.
Consideration point: Philadelphia traded McCoy to Buffalo nearly a week before free agency began. The action created a situation where a team was willing to offer a huge running back contract.
Another consideration point: the draft is a crapshoot. I think it's highly unlikely the team devoted serious strategy to landing a running back projected outside the first two rounds. Instead, their backup strategy for securing the running back position was primarily aimed at free agency.
Final consideration point: other teams, including Jacksonville, had rumored interest in signing Murray.
Free agency began March 10. The team wasn't going to budge from its top offer for Murray. Murray thought he had or would have options to sign a contract more to his choosing elsewhere.
Here's my question for the thread: Which running backs were available on March 10 who could have been signed by the team and helped the offense's rushing attack better than Randle or McFadden? I ask this question because I believe the contract negotiations between the team and Murray were doomed before they started. It doesn't help matters that the team did not seek a free agency solution until after Murray signed with the Eagles on March 12.
