Report: DeMarco Murray intends to sign with Eagles

Free agent running back DeMarco Murray is on his way to Philadelphia with an intention to sign a deal with the Eagles.

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DeMarco Murray appears ready to do the unthinkable, at least by somewhat outdated beliefs about loyalty and sports franchises–that is sign with the rival of his only NFL team, the Philadelphia Eagles.

According to an Adam Schefter report, Murray “is flying to Philadelphia this morning with the expectation he will be an Eagle.”

This comes a day after Murray reportedly reached out to Eagles head coach Chip Kelly, stating that he wanted to play in Kelly’s spread offense and join college teammate Sam Bradford in the Eagles’ newly forming backfield.

This comes mere days after the Sam Bradford-Nick Foles trade, Frank Gore backing out of a reportedly agreed-upon deal with the Eagles and one day after the team brought in another free agent back, Ryan Matthews, formerly of the San Diego Chargers.

The expected hesitancy from both parties is finances, as Kelly has not been shy about stating his intentions to take a moneyball approach to personnel (though not using that terminology).

He has certainly done that this offseason, though he did give Byron Maxwell quite a bit of money to come play cornerback for his defense.

Murray was the 2014 NFL Offensive Player of the Year after leading the league in rushing attempts and yards, while playing behind possibly the best offensive line the league had.

Then again, Kelly’s unit isn’t shabby either. Murray, Matthews and anyone else who may be given carries in what figures to be an Eagles offense which only ramps up its snap counts in 2015 will have plenty of room to run.

Kelly’s scheme is brilliant and fits Murray’s power-speed combination very well. And Kelly likes backs who can catch the ball out of the backfield as well, which Murray has done well at all levels of football.

Prior to the start of free agency, Spotrac projected Murray would receive a four-year, $31 million deal with approximately $14.3 million in guaranteed money. Before adding Maxwell or Matthews’ deals, the Eagles had an estimated $22 million in 2015 cap space.

That makes Murray’s fit extremely tight if even possible. Then again, the NFL has cap people for a reason and generally it can be manipulated. If Murray wants to be an Eagle and they want him, it will happen.

The Dallas Cowboys, though, continue to monitor the situation, and reportedly would like to keep Murray, but have not made an offer that Murray considers amenable. They are meanwhile standing firm at around $5 million per year.

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