DeMarco Murray on Cowboys future: 'I want to be here'
Dallas Cowboys All-Pro running back DeMarco Murray said that he wants to stay with the team and will sign with Dallas if it gives him the “right opportunity” to win a championship.
Murray will be a free-agent next month after a career year in 2014 in which he led the NFL in rushing yards with 1,845 yards and tied for the league lead with 13 rushing touchdowns. He earned his first Pro Bowl berth, was named a first-team AP All-Pro and won the NFL's Offensive Player of the Year award.
“Obviously I think they want me here,” Murray said, according to the Dallas Morning News. “I want to be here. It’s just finding the … I think, the, you know … just what helps them, what helps me. Things like that.
“I think both sides want (me) to be here, so I think we’ll see where it goes.”
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Murray, 26, says he wants to help the team become championship caliber. The Cowboys made the postseason for the first time in five seasons in 2014 before losing to the Green Bay Packers in the second round of the playoffs.
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“Obviously just what we’ve been able to do here the last four years, I think they understand and I understand this team is going in the right direction," Murray said, according to the report. "We can improve on last year."
All-Pro wide receiver Dez Bryant will also be a free agent, and Cowboys owner general manager Jerry Jones has admitted that signing both Bryant and Murray would be a “challenge.”
The team could sign one to a long-term deal and franchise tag the other. In 2014, the franchise tag for a running back was $9.54 million.
“Everyone’s talking about the devaluing of a running back and he’s blah, blah, blah,’’ Murray said. “I’m 26 and I feel like I haven’t even entered my prime yet. It’s not about the yards for me. It’s about winning a Super Bowl. If this place gives me the best chance, I’m going to stay here.”
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