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Demarco Murray; cautionary tale RE: Bell signing


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What DeMarco Murray’s Early Retirement Means for the NFL’s Current Crop of Star Running Backs

Just three years after being named the AP’s Offensive Player of the Year, Murray is out of the league. And his career arc could provide a glimpse into the sad financial futures of backs like Le’Veon Bell and Todd Gurley.

By Riley McAtee  
In the NFL, only kickers and punters get paid less than running backs. Offensive linemen, linebackers, and even tight ends make more than one of the league’s marquee positions. That seems curious, seeing as some of the sexiest names in the league line up in the backfield, but those players typically don’t last long. Running back careers have become so short that teams often refuse to invest in the position. Look no further than DeMarco Murray, who, three years after being one of the best players in football, retired on Friday.

Murray called it a career after seven seasons in which he racked up 9,339 yards from scrimmage, 55 touchdowns, three Pro Bowl appearances, and one solid contract from a team that almost instantly regretted signing it. In 2014, Murray was the best running back in football, and led the league with more than 1,800 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns behind Dallas’ talented offensive line. And he was due for a new contract at season’s end. The Cowboys offered him a four-year, $24 million deal, but Murray spurned them and went to the divisional rival Eagles on a five-year, $42 million contract.

It was a good deal for Murray. The $18 million guaranteed at signing was the third-highest for a running back at that time behind only Arian Foster and LeSean McCoy. But in his first season in Philadelphia, Murray disappointed, rushing for just 702 yards on 3.6 yards per carry. The then-27-year-old was so mediocre that, just one year after being one of the most important offensive weapons in the league, the Eagles traded him to the Titans for a fourth-round pick swap. Tennessee was the only team willing to take a chance on a player who just one year earlier was the AP Offensive Player of the Year.

After a brief resurgence in his first season with Tennessee (Murray rushed for 1,287 yards for the Titans in 2016), he faltered last year, with career lows in rushing yards (659) and yards per carry (3.6). The Titans cut him in March, saving $6.5 million against the salary cap, and four months later, no team had signed him. The Dolphins worked him out, but serious interest never seemed to emerge. And now, at age 30, Murray is hanging up his cleats.

Murray is a perfect example of why NFL teams don’t want to hand out big deals to running backs. After being drafted in the third round in 2011, he gave the Cowboys 4,526 rushing yards (4.8 per clip), 1,200 receiving yards, and 29 touchdowns through four seasons. During that stretch he was paid just $3.65 million. Then, when it came time to cash in on his rookie-contract production, the Cowboys lowballed him and let him walk. It’s ugly, doing that to a superstar. It is, also, given the league’s economics, the right business decision for the team.

Murray’s career arc—his immediate production and near-immediate decline after signing a real contract—has implications for some of the league’s current best backs. Le’Veon Bell is close to playing on the franchise tag for a second consecutive year as the Steelers waffle at giving him a long-term deal. Bell led the league in rushing attempts last year, and while he’s just 26, that was also the age Murray was in his All-Pro year. The Rams’ Todd Gurley is even younger—just shy of 24—but he sees the writing on the wall, and has been telling anyone who will listen this offseason that NFL players deserve fully guaranteed contracts. Gurley still has another two years left on his rookie deal, and after that he may be in the same franchise tag hell in which Bell has found himself. Arizona’s David Johnson has had virtually no traction in trying to get a new deal. And soon Ezekiel Elliott, Alvin Kamara, Kareem Hunt, Leonard Fournette, and even Saquon Barkley will likely find themselves in similar situations.

Running backs’ careers are too short for them to cash in—they’re the second-shortest in the league by position after wide receivers, per The Wall Street Journal, though elite-level wideouts certainly seem to last much longer than elite running backs. The first four or five seasons for a running back—when they’re tied up in bargain rookie deals—is generally the time they’re most valuable. Murray was able to cash in on one solid contract, and the Eagles were lucky just to move on from him when they did. If the Cowboys had given Murray the contract he wanted, it could have been a disaster for the long-term success of the team, and NFL franchises will no doubt take note. When it’s time to get paid, a rusher’s best years are often already behind them—and teams know that. For many players, that time is already here, and teams are going to look at what happened to Murray. Then they’ll do the same thing the Cowboys did: Lowball them, or let them walk.

 

 

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29 minutes ago, Joe W. Namath said:

We have 2 third round picks.  U take a rb w/ one of those picks.  We are rebuilding.  You dont rebuild a team by making an aging rb the hightest paid player at his position.

It would be an awful, awful move.

The NY Jets have been rebuilding for 50 years.. we don't draft well at some point in time we need to make a splash in free agency to bring superstar playmakers here that win games important games and get us into the playoffs. 

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2 hours ago, joewilly12 said:

The NY Jets have been rebuilding for 50 years.. we don't draft well at some point in time we need to make a splash in free agency to bring superstar playmakers here that win games important games and get us into the playoffs. 

Exactly. If history has taught us anything, it’s that signing players, spurned by their own team, in free agency brings nothing but instant and long-term success. 

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1 minute ago, BroadwayJoe12 said:

Exactly. If history has taught us anything, it’s that signing players, spurned by their own team, in free agency brings nothing be instant and long-term success. 

Le'Veon Bell is not your ordinary free agent a superstar game changer like him isn't available that often.  

Similar to Khalil Mack who has taken the Bears D to another level. 

 

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9 minutes ago, joewilly12 said:

Le'Veon Bell is not your ordinary free agent a superstar game changer like him isn't available that often.  

Similar to Khalil Mack who has taken the Bears D to another level. 

 

A RB doesn’t do for an offense what an edge rusher does for a defense.  

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My first inclination was to avoid Bell at all costs. Joe Caporoso of Turn On The Jets swayed my opinion. With so much cap space available, you can give Bell a ridiculous amount of money and still have all the money you need to sign other players, especially if you front load the contract over the first two years. Bell has 2-3 years of premium play left in his tank. At this point, I'm indifferent to drafting a RB or signing Bell. I feel  the same way about Bell as I did about Cousins. If they get Bell, whatever. If they don't get Bell, whatever. 

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1 hour ago, Joe W. Namath said:

We have 2 third round picks.  U take a rb w/ one of those picks.  We are rebuilding.  You dont rebuild a team by making an aging rb the hightest paid player at his position.

It would be an awful, awful move.

I dont even see how this is arguable. Giving Bell that much money with the current state of the roster would be insane. If the Jets scouts are so bad they cant identify one of the easiest positions to identify in the NCAA...then what are we doing anyways.

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13 minutes ago, joewilly12 said:

Le'Veon Bell is not your ordinary free agent a superstar game changer like him isn't available that often.  

Similar to Khalil Mack who has taken the Bears D to another level. 

 

You are absolutely right. We have the talent for a three to four year window, where one or two players could really push us over the top. 

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5 minutes ago, sec101row23 said:

A RB doesn’t do for an offense what an edge rusher does for a defense.  

We can't get one goddamn first down.  We have to take a risk and hope he can ignite this debacle we call an offense.  Right now it reminds me of the Geno Smith years.  3 and out, 3 and out, etc. We need playmakers on offense!!! 

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Just now, BroadwayJoe12 said:

You are absolutely right. We have the talent for a three to four year window, where one or two players could really push us over the top. 

We need more talent one or two players does nothing here.

You add Bell and other free agents then you draft accordingly and you  immediately become competitive in the NFL. 

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1 minute ago, Mark78 said:

We can't get one goddamn first down.  We have to take a risk and hope he can ignite this debacle we call an offense.  Right now it reminds me of the Geno Smith years.  3 and out, 3 and out, etc. We need playmakers on offense!!! 

The Jets don’t even have enough offensive players under contract for next year to field a starting offense.  They need everything on offense.  They currently have 4 OL, 2RBs, 1 WR, 2 TEs and 1 QB under contract.  That’s a lot of holes for $95 million. 

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1 minute ago, sec101row23 said:

The Jets don’t even have enough offensive players under contract for next year to field a starting offense.  They need everything on offense.  They currently have 4 OL, 2RBs, 1 WR, 2 TEs and 1 QB under contract.  That’s a lot of holes for $95 million. 

I wonder if this was considered in the war room when they drafted a defensive tackle from Canada.

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10 minutes ago, Creepy Lurker said:

It’s sad that normally a “stupid move” like signing Bell is basically necessary to a team that has so much cap space and no one to spend it on making them DESPERATE for talent to give Sam a shot and avoid ruining him. It’s ridiculous that this is what the team has come to. 

Creepy take a good look at our current roster most of these players if not on the NY Jets not in the NFL. 

This roster is garbage all the fault of Mike Maccagnan, signing Bell maybe lures other decent free agents here winning lures more. 

We cant rebuild with garbage players,JAG's and long shot roster additions. 

We are who we are with reason. 

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Murray is not like Bell.   Murray was a much higher contact runner.  Bell is a low contact runner.  I keep pointing this out!

Murray's mileage was like a Chevy Silverado occasionally towing something, and having to spend some winters in the rust belt.  He lowered his shoulder often.

Bell's mileage is like a Toyota Corolla running mostly on the highway in a warm climate.  Bell rarely looks to initiate contact.  He avoids it.  Goes down if no more yardage there.  Steps out of bounds instead of taking unnecessary hits.  Throws stiff arms instead of taking shots. 

He is a space runner, not a punisher.   And he will find space, his vision and acceleration is exceptional.  He is a baller!

 

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7 minutes ago, joewilly12 said:

Creepy take a good look at our current roster most of these players if not on the NY Jets not in the NFL. 

This roster is garbage all the fault of Mike Maccagnan, signing Bell maybe lures other decent free agents here winning lures more. 

We cant rebuild with garbage players,JAG's and long shot roster additions. 

We are who we are with reason. 

I agree and I’m all for signing bell because of this. My point is that a good team would never make this move unless they were in really good cap space and he was a missing piece. We can’t sign o-line at all in FA and are stuck doing this as our only hope for getting Sam offensive help.

It’s not typically a sound move to sign a player at RB that’s partially a product of his system to that kind of money. We need to sign him though because we are hopeless on offense and ANYTHING is better than nothing when it comes to developing Sam. 

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2 minutes ago, Creepy Lurker said:

I agree and I’m all for signing bell because of this. My point is that a good team would never make this move unless they were in really good cap space and he was a missing piece. We can’t sign o-line at all in FA and are stuck doing this as our only hope for getting Sam offensive help.

It’s not typically a sound move to sign a player at RB that’s partially a product of his system to that kind of money. We need to sign him though because we are hopeless on offense and ANYTHING is better than nothing when it comes to developing Sam. 

We desperately need a C and OL help along with a #1 WR and other WR's 

We have the cap money and it should increase getting rid of the bums Skrine,Long etc and will have the draft picks. 

I just don't trust Mike Maccagnan and I definitely don't want Todd Bowles anywhere near this team in 2019. 

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52 minutes ago, Matt39 said:

I dont even see how this is arguable. Giving Bell that much money with the current state of the roster would be insane. If the Jets scouts are so bad they cant identify one of the easiest positions to identify in the NCAA...then what are we doing anyways.

The Jets have to reload everything, Scouting staff included. The GM and Coach rely on the scouts to do their job and find the good players. This obviously isn't happening. Clean house and start with a new staff and help our young QB by giving him some help on offense.

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3 minutes ago, joewilly12 said:

We desperately need a C and OL help along with a #1 WR and other WR's 

We have the cap money and it should increase getting rid of the bums Skrine,Long etc and will have the draft picks. 

I just don't trust Mike Maccagnan and I definitely don't want Todd Bowles anywhere near this team in 2019. 

We don’t need our cap money to increase. We need actual players to be available which there are pretty much none on offense. FA is terrible this year. It may be ok for Bell and for 2 pass rushers. Not good value but who cares. We need help. Trade back and draft all offense. 

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2 minutes ago, GaryM said:

The Jets have to reload everything, Scouting staff included. The GM and Coach rely on the scouts to do their job and find the good players. This obviously isn't happening. Clean house and start with a new staff and help our young QB by giving him some help on offense.

When I say CLEAN HOUSE I mean all those people too! 

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Just now, Creepy Lurker said:

We don’t need our cap money to increase. We need actual players to be available which there are pretty much none on offense. FA is terrible this year. It may be ok for Bell and for 2 pass rushers. Not good value but who cares. We need help. Trade back and draft all offense. 

Trading back is risky especially with our draft history we have better odds of taking the top prospects and staying put where we are in the draft. 

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2 minutes ago, joewilly12 said:

Trading back is risky especially with our draft history we have better odds of taking the top prospects and staying put where we are in the draft. 

With this regime yes but if we do the right thing and FIRE MAC, a decent GM would take advantage of our high pick and trade down. Trading down is by far the best way to reload your team.

We don’t need a high pick nor were we expecting a top 5 pick. It’s the silver lining of a terrible season. Even just a few spots and get an 2nd or a few 3rds or 4ths. We need to throw as many darts as possible on offense. 

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8 minutes ago, Creepy Lurker said:

With this regime yes but if we do the right thing and FIRE MAC, a decent GM would take advantage of our high pick and trade down. Trading down is by far the best way to reload your team.

We don’t need a high pick nor were we expecting a top 5 pick. It’s the silver lining of a terrible season. Even just a few spots and get an 2nd or a few 3rds or 4ths. We need to throw as many darts as possible on offense. 

No way Creepy we need identity and superstar players the "what if" selections we have taken in the past have proven to be the wrong moves. 

You keep the top 5 pick and you pick the immediate impact player. 

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18 minutes ago, joewilly12 said:

No way Creepy we need identity and superstar players the "what if" selections we have taken in the past have proven to be the wrong moves. 

You keep the top 5 pick and you pick the immediate impact player. 

I’m not basing this on the last. I agree the past has been terrible. A good GM trade’s down and fills multiple holes. There are no “impact” offensive players in the top 5 so if you can trade back and still get one around pick 5-15, great and you get more picks. I just don’t see an immediate impact player besides edge rusher which we can probably fill in FA and utilize our cap space. This D just needs more pass rush to be solid. Not a hit or miss pick in the draft.

If Bosa is there, I admit it would be too tough to pass on but he will most likely be gone which is why I like FA for rushers (Which will actually have rushers for once) and draft offense while trading back a little. It would fill the most holes quickly in my opinion. We need quick for Sam’s sake. 

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2 minutes ago, Creepy Lurker said:

I’m not basing this on the last. I agree the past has been terrible. A good GM trade’s down and fills multiple holes. There are no “impact” offensive players in the top 5 so if you can trade back and still get one around pick 5-15, great and you get more picks. I just don’t see an immediate impact player besides edge rusher which we can probably fill in FA and utilize our cap space. This D just needs more pass rush to be solid. Not a hit or miss pick in the draft.

If Bosa is there, I admit it would be too tough to pass on but he will most likely be gone which is why I like FA for rushers (Which will actually have rushers for once) and draft offense while trading back a little. It would fill the most holes quickly in my opinion. We need quick for Sam’s sake. 

We currently sit at #4 our odds at getting Bosa go up each game, notice our remaining schedule. 

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59 minutes ago, RoadFan said:

Murray is not like Bell.   Murray was a much higher contact runner.  Bell is a low contact runner.  I keep pointing this out!

Murray's mileage was like a Chevy Silverado occasionally towing something, and having to spend some winters in the rust belt.  He lowered his shoulder often.

Bell's mileage is like a Toyota Corolla running mostly on the highway in a warm climate.  Bell rarely looks to initiate contact.  He avoids it.  Goes down if no more yardage there.  Steps out of bounds instead of taking unnecessary hits.  Throws stiff arms instead of taking shots. 

He is a space runner, not a punisher.   And he will find space, his vision and acceleration is exceptional.  He is a baller!!!!

READ THE ABOVE!!!!

All true. But we have an OL right now that will not be opening huge holes. Ans further, spare Riggins and Frank Gore it's really hard to find cases of backs who were very effective after their 30th birthdays.  Figure Bell will want more years and more guaranteed money, probably a 5 year deal at least. Years 3-5 will be a death march if NFL history is any guide. And those years figure to be right when you would expect to reupp Darnold long term. 

Basic flow chart of draft; Bosa if he's there, or trade down and max out numbers . Either way all other picks go to the offense. 

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