The Dallas Cowboys may look at an Adrian Peterson trade this offseason if the Vikings running back is traded and if the team doesn't add a veteran to join Darren McFadden, there is a good chance they target players like Todd Gurley, Tevin Coleman and Melvin Gordon in the draft and this comes as Jerry Jones has the Dez Bryant contract to deal with.
The Cowboys were one of the best teams in the NFL last season and they are looking to try and get back to the playoffs for the second straight year. The team was very successful rushing the ball last season and now DeMarco Murray is gone and Darren McFadden comes in to handle things with Joe Randle. The team allowed Murray to eave, as they did not want to spend too much money on an aging running back with past injury issues.
Murray had a career season, but the Cowboys felt that their improved offensive line was one of the main reasons why that happened and that is part of the reason why they let him go. The team signed McFadden in free agency and now there is a good chance they will target a running back in the draft. According to Pro Football Talk, the Cowboys are considered one of the likely landing spots if Peterson is traded, but right now no deal is close to happening.
Peterson and the Vikings have not yet been able to agree on how to move forward in 2015 and the team could consider making a trade. The Cowboys are an option after both Jerry Jones and Peterson praised each other last offseason in an Outside the Lines article, but the cap situation could make it tough. The Cowboys reworked Tony Romo's contract to free up some money and that could help if they go through with the Peterson deal. Jason Cole at Bleacher Report wrote last week that the "dream scenario" for Peterson is to end up with the Cowboys.
The Cowboys also will look at running backs in the draft and this year there is a deep class of players, including Todd Gurley and Melvin Gordon at the top. Some other players to keep an eye on include Tevin Coleman, Ameer Abdullah, Duke Johnson, Jay Ajayi, David Johnson and Jeremy Langford. The Cowboys have met with Coleman and Gurley and they could meet with other backs in pre-draft visits before the event at the end of April.
Murray had his best career season, but the Cowboys felt that he could be replaced and they did not want to get locked into a deal with a player that has had extensive injury issues in the past. Murray played in 16 games for the first time in his career last season.
According to ESPN Dallas reporter Todd Archer, the Cowboys likely will not work out a deal with Bryant this offseason and that means he could play out the franchise tag deal for one year. Archer writes that the $12.8 million tag is likely what will happen this year and he expects Bryant to hold out for part of the summer heading into the July 15 deadline for wiring out a long term contract.