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Signing DeMarco Murray Smart Choice for Dallas Cowboys

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Demarco Murray Dallas Cowboys

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Whether they want to admit it or not, people in Texas are still angry over the fact that Mack Brown let Adrian Peterson leave the state of Texas for Oklahoma and the hated Bob Stoops. Sure they won a championship without him but chances are the Longhorns would have gone to multiple championships with him on the roster.

Now Jerry Jones is an Arkansas Razorbacks alum and could care less about the rivalry that exists between Texas and Oklahoma but he is a smart business man and can’t help but dream about the revenue and ticket sales he’d get from being the one who finally brought Peterson back home. But Jones must resist the attractive fool’s gold and stick to his smart long term plan by signing DeMarco Murray.

The Dallas Cowboys have quite a bit of depth at the running back position with the speedy and shifty Lance Dunbar acting as the change of pace back who can take it to the house at any given moment. And they also the talented but troubled Joseph Randle who made tremendous strides this year in his development as a runner in a pro style offense. So even if the Cowboys aren’t able to sign Murray to a long-term deal, the combination of these two backs provide some hope for the future.

This is key as the only immediate options for the Cowboys heading into the 2015 season are a running back who’s about to turn 30, a young and injury-prone back who is coming off of a 392 carry season or a rookie that has never played a down off football in the NFL.

The numbers don’t lie, running backs who turn 30 have a dramatic decline in production when compared to their younger years and even though Peterson is basically returning from a year off from the game, he’s not really a spring chicken as he’s had a ton of tough carries over his career.

You’re always rolling the dice with a rookie running back because they have to adjust to the speed of the game, the daily grind of it as it’s a longer season than that of college’s, and the learning curve when it comes to pass protection; and given the fact your franchise quarterback has a history of back problems, it’s probably not the best idea to put his career in the hands of a bright eyed rookie.

So the safest and smartest choice for Jones would be to franchise Murray and sign him to a one year deal. This way he can see if the heavy load they gave him last season was too much and effectively ended his career. If it turns out that he can handle being the focal point of the offense then you can work on a long term deal mid-season and keep continuity in your explosive offense.

So one major key to the Cowboys’ offseason is for Jerry to avoid the shiny old toy that could be available to him in April and to stick with the safe and seemingly boring option in Murray.

Kelly Anderson is a blogger for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @bgipp01 or add him to your network on Google.

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