Philadelphia Eagles Sign Rushing Champ DeMarco Murray

The other day, the New York Jets signed All Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis away from their division rival New England Patriots. That’s big, but the Philadelphia Eagles have pulled off an even bigger coup over a division rival, signing 2014 NFL rushing yardage champ DeMarco Murray away from their division arch rival, the Dallas Cowboys.

The Cowboys cited salary cap issues in letting Murray go. They made a first step in replacing Murray by signing former Oakland Raiders running back Darren McFadden. McFadden rushed for 532 yards and two touchdowns last season, which pales in comparison to Murray (1845 yards, 13 TDs) but McFadden will play behind a much better offensive line in Dallas. The Cowboys will have to do more than that if they want to retain a balanced offensive attack like they had last year.

Philadelphia has been aggressive in the trade and free agent market, trading away LeSean McCoy, another excellent running back (1319 yards last season), to Buffalo for linebacker Kiko Alonzo. The Eagles also added running back Ryan Mathews from San Diego, who was limited to just 330 yards in six games last season due to injuries, but who rushed for 1255 yards in 2013. Philly also traded quarterback Nick Foles to the Rams for quarterback Sam Bradford. Bradford missed the last half of the 2013 and all of the 2014 season with a torn ACL, so this one is up in the air as to how much help it can be. The Eagles also have Mark Sanchez at quarterback, but we will be surprised if Philadelphia doesn’t draft or otherwise pick up another quarterback yet this offseason.