It’s been a very strange few hours for the Eagles. Within the space of twenty minutes, two conflicting interviews had aired live on National Television. NFL Insider Ian Rapoport stated live on the NFL Network that both the Eagles and Murray are heading for a stare down and that the 2014 rushing champion is unhappy in Philadelphia amongst other things. Moments later, this happened..
DeMarco Murray tells ESPN he does NOT blame Chip Kelly for his issues last year. Murray wants to come back to Eagles pic.twitter.com/xbdjZTRQMI
— Jeff Skversky (@JeffSkversky) February 4, 2016
So what’s really going on here? The two very heavy reports seem to cancel each other out which has lead many to believe that the story carries no substance at all..but the truth couldn’t be further from that assumption. Here’s what the reports could signify.
Nothing gets out unless someone wants it out
The first rule to abide by when analysing this sort of story is to remember that NO story gets out unless somebody plants the seed. It could be a player, an agent, someone in a similar position to Howie or even another team. But the two contrasting reports airing at an almost identical time did not happen by coincidence. There is much more to this story than meets the eye.
Setting the market
One possible reason why the live Ian Rapoport interview aired during Super Bowl week of all weeks could well be to set the market for Murray. There is a lack of running back depth in the league right now and as the NFL Insider alluded to, teams such as Seattle, Oakland and Dallas (where Murray happens to be reportedly building a home) are all in the market for a running back. Funnily enough, a certain Wide Receiver just posted a very interesting tweet..
— Philly Sports Network (@PhiladelphiaSN) February 4, 2016
@JasonWitten @tonyromo @DeMarcoMurray come on home https://t.co/06hHKWBJ87 #cowboys
— Dez Bryant (@DezBryant) February 4, 2016
Murray has a monster contract that a team would have to swallow if a trade were to occur. Now of course this is all hypothetical, but by placing emphasis on Murray being unhappy with the organization and claiming how the change in coaching staff doesn’t alter that, is a way of making teams take a second look. A mentality such as “look, there’s a great running back who is unhappy at his team with a big contract. The stakes wouldn’t be that high in the trade other than the salary cap space we would lose…let’s see what we can do” would definitely move the pieces.
The contrast
Now moments later, Murray appeared on ESPN (video above) and basically shut down any word Rapoport had to say. Now this was either one MASSIVE coincidence..or something a bit deeper.
It could be that Murray is doing one of two things.
- Reaching out to the Eagles and claiming he wants to stay just seconds after murmurs of a potential trade or reports that his future is in doubt have began to surface in an attempt to secure his future. At this point it isn’t about if Murray wants to stay in Philadelphia, it’s if the Eagles want to keep Murray in Philadelphia. If the answer to the latter is “no” and the wheels have began to roll..this could well be Murray’s way of saying “No, I want to stay here” meaning every word he said was completely sincere.
2. There’s a deeper narrative here that actually re-enforces Rapoports points. This is of course all highly speculative but if Murray contrasts a report that damning it could entice teams to look at the situation more closely..which would also explain the Dez tweet.
It could even be a way for the Eagles to lay out a scenario for any team that’s interested. If Murray wants to stay..it’s going to require more on the enquiring teams behalf to convince him to leave..but if the Eagles want him gone as Rapoport might unintentionally be stating, then the doors are indeed open for negotiation and it’s down to these teams to see what they can piece together in the way of a trade.
This would also for Roseman’s current plan which looks set to undo the damage Chip Kelly inflicted. Johnson, Ertz and Curry were all Roseman picks..they’re all now extended. It would also explain why Bradford has not yet been offered a new deal and why of course now, the talks of a potential DeMarco Murray narrative are starting to break from cover.
It would be very easy to brush the entire story off and claim he’s “staying because the contract is too hefty” or “because he wants to” but it’s so much deeper than that. The contract tells just a fraction of the story and this wouldn’t exactly be the first time a team swallows up a large contract to bring in a star.
It’s perhaps even easier to brush this article off as it’s purely speculation..but it’s plausible. The likelihood of Murray staying in Philadelphia is high because of the numbers, but if the Eagles can manipulate the market to center around 2014’s leading rusher then not only would they relieve themselves of such a hefty contract, but they can begin to build an Offense for the future and an Offense that Pederson envisions.
