Darren McFadden to sign with Cowboys

[Hawkfin 32]

I'm confident I have a better pulse on the Boys than you do - so I'm pretty good with my assumptions.

 

* You're chasing your own tail with the DMC talk. Nobody but you is thinking he was brought in to replicate Murray's #'s. He will be a role player - and in that, given his surroundings, I think he will just fine. Possibly even better than fine.

 

* Given the choice between this offensive line/Romo or Romo/Murray - give me option 1 all day long. Anyone taking 2 is an idiot.

 

* Randle possibly not being here had zip to do with his ability - it was all off the field based.... As far as not securing the back up role - what are you talking about? You really need to stop getting your info from game clips - Randle has had the 2nd most carries on this team for 2 years now. Which coincidentally, he's only been here and in the league for 2 years. You talk about him as if he were a 28 year old veteran - the kid is barely 24.

 

Ha, the sky isn't falling in D just yet. Take a deep breath and relax.

Others have already said good posts to your points that I also agree with. And while AP makes the only sense to this whole thing, I'm coming from the angle that this might not happen now. This could be the team your stuck with. If so,

 

-Then who exactly is going to fill the almost 500 attempts if not McFadden? Or even the 380 that I pointed out?

(If you say Randel, then again I think your living in a hopefull dream world - You would have been better off with a rookie)

If Dallas does nothing more, then I do assume they think McFadden will be the work horse to their fault.

 

-I also don't see why you couldn't have had all 3 fazes. (Oline/Murray/Romo) You didn't need to sign McFadden or a risk player who's suspended. You could have drafted a risk player in the draft instead. oh wait

Oline was set in place no matter what you did at RB. So was Romo who negotiated to keep Murray. Those 2 fazes were already set. So I don't see your point.

(I'll take Oline/AP personally)

 

-When Murray got hurt, Dallas chose to start somebody else over Randel a number of times. The Dallas depth chart often showed Randel as #3 too.

I've also seen Randel given the start a few other times and I was not impressed at all. I did not like him coming out of college either.

He's better when he has Murray in the lineup and he's does spot duty. That's what I've seen. When he's your starter I don't see him being that great.

Also, my point is that he's not proven anything or that he can.

 

To be fair - I think Randel is your best hope at the moment though. Becuase your right, McFadden is good for 150 OR he's done.

 

I think the other 2 posters clearly made great points - They expect AP in Dallas or they agree that the "sky is somewhat falling"

[sirensong 111]

And I don't understand why the choice couldn't be Murray/Romo/this offensive line? Murray probably would've stayed for $7.5 mill guaranteed for two years on a four year deal. You re-sign him, you have the same FA and draft, and you're a super bowl favorite right now.

 

 

 

no. though he was willing to take a bit less to play for a contender, murray still wanted to be paid like an elite RB (despite only one year of elite production).

 

furthermore, you can't say "re-sign him and then have the same FA and draft" with a straight face. signing murray meant no hardy, full stop. there is no way anyone could have foreseen gregory falling to 27, much less 60. so DAL would have been forced to bet the farm in the 1st on an undersized boom or bust DE with off-the-field problems, instead of getting a much safer gamble in the second. and this means instead of getting surefire help in the secondary, they're now getting a depth corner or a 4th tier pass rusher in the second. and they would still have RB depth issues, due to murray's injury history.

 

you have to assess it off what the ballclub knew at the time. i'm sure that if jones had a crystal ball and knew at the time that hardy would be looking at a suspension of at least 6 games, and that the rookie class would consist of 3 first round talents, the negotiations with murray would have gone much differently. but no one could have predicted that.

 

what they certainly could have predicted is that murray was not going to see 500 touches again, so it didn't make sense to pay him for elite production given the glaring needs on defense. murray is not a lynch or a charles--he doesn't create something out of nothing. $7.5M for 300 touches is very steep...unless the front office magically knew that they would be adding the best OL prospect in the draft for pennies on the dollar.

[R8RMick 242]

Are you crazy? There was no way in hell Murray was taking anything near, even $15m guaranteed. Especially after he saw what Shady got.... He had his sights set on the $20m range - Dallas simply wasn't going to commit to that.

I'm not crazy, nor is the thought Murray would give the Boys a serious home town discount. I don't think he needed Shady money, he just didn't want to be disrespected. And you're putting a super bowl out of reach for $5 million? Of course, once it reached a certain point it was too late. Again, from what I heard here in the metroplex, they were never serious. Once Romo re-structured it became obvious the money WAS there, they just didn't want to pay it.

 

I'm not sure about the risk excuse, I think Murray would've signed a performance deal with maybe two years guaranteed provided the money was THERE for him to at least earn. I can maybe buy that trepidation. But that $4 mill four years business was a joke.

 

Again, if the plan was/is Peterson fine. I could actually respect the stones that would take.

[Hawkfin 32]

a lot of you guys are talking like mcfadden is murray's replacement. he's not. he's here on a cheap, look-see basis to see if he has anything left in the tank. if he gets cut before the season starts, it will cost DAL $200K of cap space.

So who is your Murray replacement then?

Randel? (Before the draft it was supposed to be a top rookie by a lot of you Dallas fans) Now what?

 

Where are the 350 attempts going?

And I say 350 (instead of 490) because with this RB crew, you will NEVER come close to 500 attempts again.

 

The reason you were as good as you were last year is BECAUSE you got up the 500 attempts, and kept the ball out of you aging QB hands as well as resting your Def.

You went to the power running game (like the Seahawks) and kept long sustained drives for the most part. Or you busted open a quicker TD due to teams worried about the threat of Murray. Also, when you got close Murray had the skills to finish it.

 

Murray IMO is like a Lynch. I dissagree with your guy's assesment of who Murray is. I see him as a powerfull back who can bust threw arm tackels, but also has good vision and ability to gash angles on the def or cutback. He's a 4 yard pounder per attempt and can catch well too. And block, etc, etc.

 

Your clearly taking a hit and just don't want to admit it. Romo doesn't have the time for that. You really need AP, who is a better version of Murray.

[sirensong 111]

murray's replacement is a committee, probably somewhere around 45/35/20 in terms of carry distribution. if the season started tomorrow, it would be randle/DMC/dunbar. but my gut tells me that if williams stays healthy, he might be the reason randle is playing somewhere else in september. i can easily see a DMC/williams/dunbar rotation, and i suspect they'll be looking at about 30 att/gm, for right around 500 carries combined.

 

randle can run, but he's not a creator--he needs a crease. williams appears to have better vision and instincts, but he (like randle) is questionable in pass pro. people like to say that DMC has lost a step, but even with losing a step, he'd still be faster than murray. while randle/williams don't have the speed to work the perimeter effectively, DMC certainly does (as does dunbar).

 

no one is saying that DAL isn't taking a hit. we've all said that the team would be better if murray was still here. but you can't have gold-plated everything. given the choice between substantially upgrading the defense and keeping murray, the right team structure call was to let murray walk and to spend those dollars on defense.

 

i'll be jumping up and down if AP comes to town, but right now it's a non-issue. the ball is in MIN's court, and jones can't make anything happen.

[R8RMick 242]

But once Romo re-structured it became evident the money WAS there. That's what I don't understand. The Hardy deal not a bank breaker by any means, and what other big $ defensive FA's have you signed? Basically the money to pay Peterson could have been used for Murray, and the excuse of $$$ doesn't wash.

 

That's why I feel decision was made for whatever reason not to bring him back. But that reason was NOT that the team did not have the cap space.

[sirensong 111]

the difference is that AP is a special player, while murray is not. to put it in QB terms, it's the difference between bringing in aaron rodgers vs matt ryan. ryan is a good QB, but he's not a game-changer (much as i hate that term).

 

and yes, it's a cap issue. DAL is currently over the cap, not including hardy's performance money--a substantial amount of which has to be borrowed from next season's cap if he hits his escalators. now, DAL can free up money to make moves. any NFL club can. but this money will also have to be borrowed against the future through restructuring. what this means is that any move at this point is mortgaging the future of the ballclub. that's a reasonable move if you can get a special talent, but not a very wise move to retain a previously-inconsistent RB with an extensive injury history who is coming off of one of the heaviest workloads in recent memory.

 

understand, AP won't be playing in DAL for anywhere near his current salary. as a SWAG, i'd put his ceiling at ~$9M. anything more than that, i don't see jones making the move (due to romo's restructure, which puts them at $31M in dead money for 2016 if he can't play).

 

for the same money, you let murray walk and sign AP. i don't see how anyone could dispute that for football reasons.

[Gepetto 987]

The money saved by letting Murray walk is for Adrian Peterson!!!

[Cruzer 1,992]

Well, you better fill them out while your QB is still standing.

Agreed - the key is getting the defense built up.... Bryce Petty was sitting there when we picked in the 3rd - I was really hoping we would take him. He'd be in perfect spot to take over this team in a few years.

[Cruzer 1,992]

-Then who exactly is going to fill the almost 500 attempts if not McFadden? Or even the 380 that I pointed out?

(If you say Randel, then again I think your living in a hopefull dream world - You would have been better off with a rookie)

If Dallas does nothing more, then I do assume they think McFadden will be the work horse to their fault.

 

-I also don't see why you couldn't have had all 3 fazes. (Oline/Murray/Romo) You didn't need to sign McFadden or a risk player who's suspended. You could have drafted a risk player in the draft instead. oh wait

Oline was set in place no matter what you did at RB. So was Romo who negotiated to keep Murray. Those 2 fazes were already set. So I don't see your point.

(I'll take Oline/AP personally)

 

-When Murray got hurt, Dallas chose to start somebody else over Randel a number of times. The Dallas depth chart often showed Randel as #3 too.

I've also seen Randel given the start a few other times and I was not impressed at all. I did not like him coming out of college either.

He's better when he has Murray in the lineup and he's does spot duty. That's what I've seen. When he's your starter I don't see him being that great.

Also, my point is that he's not proven anything or that he can.

 

To be fair - I think Randel is your best hope at the moment though. Becuase your right, McFadden is good for 150 OR he's done.

 

I think the other 2 posters clearly made great points - They expect AP in Dallas or they agree that the "sky is somewhat falling"

I'm not going to lie, I was a little miffed when we passed on a RB (and Bryce Petty) in the 3rd round - then to not take one the entire draft. I guess the staff honestly believes a combo of Randle/DMC/Dunbar can crank out 350+ carries... Randle hasn't had more than 60 carries a season, which is dicey. Then again, he's only 24, averaged 7 ypc last year and his legs are fresh - maybe that all equals a positive... But put me in the camp that thinks AP still has a chance to land here. I'd be wiling to give up next year's #1 and possibly a 4th.

 

I'm more worried and interested in the defensive side of the ball than our running game. Once Hardy comes back - he and Gregory could completely change the identity of this team, and cause serious problems for teams.

[Cruzer 1,992]

That's why I feel decision was made for whatever reason not to bring him back. But that reason was NOT that the team did not have the cap space.

Agreed - the power structure appears to have made up their mind as far back as last fall to not commit stupid money to keeping Murray... We all speculate on this and that - but in the end, they are the ones who know Murray best. They are the ones who saw him in practice every day - and they are the ones who decided that committing huge money to a RB is just not good business sense. I happen to agree with that as well.

 

As far as Murray taking less to stay - no way in freaking Wally World was he going to settle on $15m guaranteed. 28 year old RBs don't get but 1 shot at a payday - and this was his, and he and his camp knew it. They were dead set on getting as much as they could, and good for Murray - don't blame him a bit.

 

This was a good article on the Murray deal - and article from an outside source. My stance isn't a homer stance, many around the league agreed it was stupid to spend that kind of $$ on Murray as well.

 

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/25104425/demarco-murray-signing-with-eagles-7-things-to-know

[Hawkfin 32]

Agreed - the power structure appears to have made up their mind as far back as last fall to not commit stupid money to keeping Murray... We all speculate on this and that - but in the end, they are the ones who know Murray best. They are the ones who saw him in practice every day - and they are the ones who decided that committing huge money to a RB is just not good business sense. I happen to agree with that as well.

 

As far as Murray taking less to stay - no way in freaking Wally World was he going to settle on $15m guaranteed. 28 year old RBs don't get but 1 shot at a payday - and this was his, and he and his camp knew it. They were dead set on getting as much as they could, and good for Murray - don't blame him a bit.

 

This was a good article on the Murray deal - and article from an outside source. My stance isn't a homer stance, many around the league agreed it was stupid to spend that kind of $$ on Murray as well.

 

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/25104425/demarco-murray-signing-with-eagles-7-things-to-know

Pretty good article,

What I find funny though is the "2 points" at the very end for Dallas.

 

1. Get AP, rush for 2,000, and go full risk- big reward. (Dah - Yeah, they should have)

2. Get Matthews and draft Gordan or top rookie.

 

Well, point 2 is gone.

And #1 doesn't look like it's happening to me. I even felt AP was starting to come around and willing to play in Minn.

The next article will be: Is Dallas serously trying to roll out with McFadden and Randle? What were they thinking?

 

I'm seeing more and more Cowboy fans (since the draft) changing their tune now, and willing to give up major picks for AP. Maybe cause it's next years draft and not this one. But, most likely the realization of your RB crew down right sucks now, and the run you were on put to a stone cold stop.

 

I think maybe you've lost your chance at AP. Now your stuck with McFadden/Randle and a tanked year with Romo aging by the day. IMO

 

Minn should continoue to play major hard ball if Dallas wants AP at this point. Kinda late to be coming back now. I don't see it happening really.

I bet AP makes nicey nice and plays in Minn before he ends up in Dallas.

[Cruzer 1,992]

I'm seeing more and more Cowboy fans (since the draft) changing their tune now, and willing to give up major picks for AP. Maybe cause it's next years draft and not this one. But, most likely the realization of your RB crew down right sucks now, and the run you were on put to a stone cold stop.

It's not the later at all - far from it..... More and more are willing to look into dealing a future #1 or whatever (myself included) bcoz of the recent FA moves we made and bcoz of the draft we had - plain and simple. Has nothing to do with realizations of anything.

 

I've said many times a teams' most valuable asset are its draft picks, followed by cap space. We utilized our draft and available money to address holes and needs:

 

* Signed: G. Hardy, D. McFadden, R. Agnew, L. Collins (steal of the draft)

 

* Resigned: D. Free, R. Leary, C. Beasley, L. Dunbar, N. Hayden, R. McClain,

 

* Franchised: Dez

 

* Drafted: B. Jones, R. Gregory, C. Green

 

And the unmentioned huge resigns of Rod Marinelli and Scott Linehan. It's bcoz of all of these moves that this team is now in a position to possibly deal future picks to land AP - nothing more.

[R8RMick 242]

I'm no Eagles fan, but I'd love to see DeMarco Murray rush for 1800 yards next season. I'm just sick of experts devaluing good running backs, especially when it's moron coaches and systems who refuse to utilize them fully.

[phillygrrl08 139]

Yahoo has an article saying Ray Rice could go to Dallas.

 

Not going to put a whole lot of stock in a yahoo report, but, that could be interesting.

[Cruzer 1,992]

I'm no Eagles fan, but I'd love to see DeMarco Murray rush for 1800 yards next season. I'm just sick of experts devaluing good running backs, especially when it's moron coaches and systems who refuse to utilize them fully.

Experts and arm chair quarterbacks have done this for sure.. But the tail tail sign, the real proof in the pudding is that GMs all across the league have done this as well. RB is just not a good place to invest large sums of cap space in - this isn't the 70's anymore, times have changed.

[R8RMick 242]

Experts and arm chair quarterbacks have done this for sure.. But the tail tail sign, the real proof in the pudding is that GMs all across the league have done this as well. RB is just not a good place to invest large sums of cap space in - this isn't the 70's anymore, times have changed.

Lol... the late 70's were some of the most pass happy times in league history. Just thought more than anyone, after last season's eye opening results, that Cowboy fans would appreciate the worth of a running game. A running game with a legit NFL back, not an RBBC with four Derek Lassicks.

[Cruzer 1,992]

Lol... the late 70's were some of the most pass happy times in league history. Just thought more than anyone, after last season's eye opening results, that Cowboy fans would appreciate the worth of a running game. A running game with a legit NFL back, not an RBBC with four Derek Lassicks.

The 70's aired it out - but don't get confused, it was still a run game first. Star WRs caught around 60-70 balls back then - and it was rare for a team to pass over 3000 yards.

 

I appreciate and love a run game. You and I just differ on the catalyst for it. You value a stud RB to make it work, I believe a powerful line makes it work.

[Hawkfin 32]

The 70's aired it out - but don't get confused, it was still a run game first. Star WRs caught around 60-70 balls back then - and it was rare for a team to pass over 3000 yards.

 

I appreciate and love a run game. You and I just differ on the catalyst for it. You value a stud RB to make it work, I believe a powerful line makes it work.

And I believe it takes BOTH and they play off one another.

 

Does the Seahawks have a great line? No, it's pretty bad actually.

They have a great runner though.

.

Just one quick example.

[R8RMick 242]

The 70's aired it out - but don't get confused, it was still a run game first. Star WRs caught around 60-70 balls back then - and it was rare for a team to pass over 3000 yards.

 

I appreciate and love a run game. You and I just differ on the catalyst for it. You value a stud RB to make it work, I believe a powerful line makes it work.

Cowboy offensive line in 1993 was as good as any in history, yet was going nowhere fast with Derek Lasick.

 

Welcome back to 1993.

[Cruzer 1,992]

Cowboy offensive line in 1993 was as good as any in history, yet was going nowhere fast with Derek Lasick.

 

Welcome back to 1993.

There is always a rule or two to the exception... This is a good point you bring up though. I use it all the time when people want to think Emmitt was just an ordinary back who reaped the benefits of our line. Lassic was clearly not the answer and that 0-2 start proved it. Emmitt was the rare exception that made the line, not the other way around... Until he arrived, not a single one of our lineman had ever made a Pro Bowl - and they had come from all over.

 

AP and Emmitt are rare exception, special RBs. As good as Murray is - he is not.

[R8RMick 242]

There is always a rule or two to the exception... This is a good point you bring up though. I use it all the time when people want to think Emmitt was just an ordinary back who reaped the benefits of our line. Lassic was clearly not the answer and that 0-2 start proved it. Emmitt was the rare exception that made the line, not the other way around... Until he arrived, not a single one of our lineman had ever made a Pro Bowl - and they had come from all over.

 

AP and Emmitt are rare exception, special RBs. As good as Murray is - he is not.

Granted, and what you have now makes DeMarco look like Dickerson. Not that he's light years from him anyway. Actually I responded because I just saw the Boys are buying Ben Tate a cup of coffee today.

 

Again, I think it's all a smokescreen.

[Cruzer 1,992]

Granted, and what you have now makes DeMarco look like Dickerson. Not that he's light years from him anyway. Actually I responded because I just saw the Boys are buying Ben Tate a cup of coffee today.

 

Again, I think it's all a smokescreen.

And Felix Jones is working out for us too. Ha, oh Gawd!

[weepaws 2,460]

The Razorbacks are taking over the Cowboys running game .

[sirensong 111]

It's not the later at all - far from it..... More and more are willing to look into dealing a future #1 or whatever (myself included) bcoz of the recent FA moves we made and bcoz of the draft we had - plain and simple. Has nothing to do with realizations of anything.

 

I've said many times a teams' most valuable asset are its draft picks, followed by cap space. We utilized our draft and available money to address holes and needs:

 

* Signed: G. Hardy, D. McFadden, R. Agnew, L. Collins (steal of the draft)

 

* Resigned: D. Free, R. Leary, C. Beasley, L. Dunbar, N. Hayden, R. McClain,

 

* Franchised: Dez

 

* Drafted: B. Jones, R. Gregory, C. Green

 

And the unmentioned huge resigns of Rod Marinelli and Scott Linehan. It's bcoz of all of these moves that this team is now in a position to possibly deal future picks to land AP - nothing more.

 

 

i agree with everything about this post.

[ralphster 274]

Ben Tate & Daniel Thomas? Yup, they were really ready to go w Randle/Williams/McFadden all along...

[Cruzer 1,992]

Ben Tate & Daniel Thomas? Yup, they were really ready to go w Randle/Williams/McFadden all along...

You will never convince me that Randle/Dunbar/Williams/DMC was the plan all along - primarily bcoz we exhausted a good bit of time and energy bringing in a few of the top rookie RB draft prospects... That being said, I think Stephen and Co. were confident enough in what we have in house that it wasn't a pressing need - least in their eyes. If the right situation presented itself, then fine, if not - no worry.......... I loved our first 2 picks - no problem at all not going RB there, but I really thought we would have taken one in the 3rd.

 

I'm a bit apprehensive, will not deny that. But those guys have earned my trust over the past couple of years - I will roll with it.

[R8RMick 242]

See they extended Scandrick. This team making some solid moves I'll give them that.

[Cruzer 1,992]

See they extended Scandrick. This team making some solid moves I'll give them that.

Agreed... This was a really good move. Keeps Scandrick happy, it's a fair market deal - and a much better value than what Philly paid Maxwell.

[DrG 94]

Dmc may have flex value. He can also help in return game

[weepaws 2,460]

If he makes the team , not sure where McFadden stands right now .

[MDC 5,891]

The Cowboys made a big mistake in letting Murray go without drafting a replacement. They'll be even more butt hurt over DeMarco leaving when he trampled the Boys twice this year.

[Cruzer 1,992]

The Cowboys made a big mistake in letting Murray go without drafting a replacement. They'll be even more butt hurt over DeMarco leaving when he trampled the Boys twice this year.

Wolf, wolf, wolf... Heard this story before.