PHILADELPHIA - DeMarco Murray, football's leading rusher last season with the Cowboys, has signed with the NFC East rival Philadelphia Eagles, the team announced on Thursday.
The signature is worth a reported $42 million over five years, half of which is guaranteed money for the NFL Offensive Player of the Year in 2014.
"I'm excited about the future," Murray told a press conference in Philadelphia. "They have a great game plan and great coaches; whatever they decide to do, I'm in."
Discussions heated up on Wednesday and Thursday when reports surfaced that Murray had begun discussions with Eagles head coach Chip Kelly after the team found themselves in need of a backfield following a trade that sent LeSean McCoy to Buffalo last week.
Murray, a free agent, flew to Philadelphia to speak personally with Kelly and other team officials with the intent to sign a contract with the team provided the meetings went well.
Went well, they did.
"I felt this was a great opportunity to win a Super Bowl," Murray told the assembled media.
Murray's expected annual money ($8.4m) will exceed what was long the Cowboys' threshold offer of $6 million per year; the team believed that, though Murray was a good talent coming off a banner year, he was not worth more money.
"This came down to an allocation of dollars within the management of the salary cap," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said in a statement.
Though, "It was never about the money in any situation," Murray claimed in a text to Todd Archer of ESPN on Thursday. "If it was the money, I could've taken that a long time ago on a very high deal. It's about winning a Super Bowl and being fair."
Adam Schefter of ESPN reported on Thursday morning that the Cowboys were commencing talks with other running backs of the belief that they had lost Murray to their rivals.
Murray carried the Cowboys to their first playoff appearance since 2009 with an NFL-best 1,845 yards on 392 rushes, adding 13 touchdowns (all career-highs) before the team was excluded from the postseason in the NFC Divisional Round at the Packers.
He carried for 100 yards in their regular-season finale at the Redskins in December to surpass Emmitt Smith's former franchise single-season rushing record.
"We are very grateful to DeMarco Murray for his contributions to the Dallas Cowboys," Jones added. "He is a quality person, a very good football player, and a player that we wanted to keep.
"I love those guys," Murray said of his time with the Cowboys, "but sometimes, things don't work out, and you gotta move on."
The fifth-year back will reunite with former Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford, his roommate at the school who was traded to the Eagles this week in a deal that saw former starter Nick Foles moved to the Rams in exchange.
Murray told a league source recently that he and Bradford were "the best of friends", and Bradford admitted he was recruiting Murray to join the Eagles.
"Absolutely. I've been trying my hardest," he said on Wednesday of his efforts. "I've called him. I've texted him. I've done everything. We've been in communication. If we can somehow land him, it would be a great pickup. Not only is he a great player, he's a great person. He's a really close friend of mine, too. I think he can really help this ball club."
The two featured together on a successful spread offense with the Sooners from 2007-2009; Murray stayed on another year when Bradford entered the professional ranks.
They will seek to imitate that success in Kelly's signature spread-style offensive scheme, provided Bradford can overcome injuries in a twice-torn left ACL.
Philadelphia and former Chargers running back Ryan Mathews had agreed to terms on a three-year, $11.5 million deal ($5m guaranteed) earlier this week, and the contract was signed this afternoon along with Murray's.
The signing of Murray is the most high profile move by the Eagles in what has become a hectic, and often criticized, free agency period for the team: in addition to trading Foles and McCoy, they also lost leading receiver Jeremy Maclin to the Chiefs, and released cornerback Cary Williams and linebacker Trent Cole. Philadelphia also added cornerbacks Byron Maxwell and Walter Thurmond; Brandon Graham was retained on Tuesday after a flirtation with the division rival Giants.
Murray currently holds the all-time records at Oklahoma for all-purpose yards (6,718), touchdowns (65), and receiving yards for a tailback (1,571).
Named twice to the NFL Pro Bowl list, he has 4,526 career rushing yards on 934 attempts for 28 touchdowns, adding 1,200 receiving yards on 171 catches.
"I'm proud to be a part of this organization," he said.
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