The Philadelphia Eagles may target DeMarco Murray as a free agent this offseason after the signing of Ryan Mathews and names like CJ Spiller and Reggie Bush also could be in the mix after the team traded LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills, as chip Kelly needs some depth at the position with Darren Sproles and it could reunite Sam Bradford with his old college roommate in Murray.
Murray is on the market for the Dallas Cowboys and Adam Caplan at ESPN and Peter Schrager of Fox Sports report that the Eagles could still be in the mix for him even after signing Mathews. According to Pro Football Talk and ESPN.com, Mathews is signing with the Eagles on a three-year, $11.5 million contract with $5 million guaranteed. The deal is similar to what the team was planning to give Frank Gore and now they have a new running back coming in with McCoy gone.
Adam Schefter and other reports say Chip Kelly could look at Murray despite the Mathews signing, as the team has needs at RB and the money to spend. The Eagles have been the most active and most confusing team this offseason, making trades with Nick Foles, LeSean McCoy and cutting loose Cary Williams while signing Byron Maxwell and Walter Thurmond. Kelly spoke about the Foles trade and said the move with Bradford was about the salary cap in the future and that any speculation about trading up for Marcus Mariota is crazy.
The next move for the Eagles could be to swipe Murray from the Cowboys, but right now there is no movement on a deal. Murray comes in with interest from the Jaguars and potentially the raiders, but the Cowboys feel comfortable about letting him sit on the market as things develop. ESPN Dallas writes that the Cowboys are playing this just like they planned, as they feel they can get Murray below market value, as there aren't a lot of landing spots for him.
Adam Schefter spoke on ESPN Radio on Wednesday and said that he thinks Murray will end up back with the Cowboys. Schefter said that the offensive system the team runs and the play of the offensive line last year was perfect for him and that there aren't many other teams where that would be the case. Murray has had injury issues in the past and while he led the league in rushing this season, some teams may not be willing to pay up. Murray touched the ball over 400 times last year and many teams could be worried about a regression in his play.
Mathews comes in after dealing with injuries last season (seemingly a common thing for new Eagles players ie Bradford) and he will be in on a three year contract. Mathews was expected to leave the Chargers and it comes after he played in six games last season, rushing for 330 yards. Mathews had his best season in 2013, playing in all 16 games and rushing for 1255 yards. The Eagles are hoping he can contribute like that to the new offense and they still could look at adding more depth.
