The Dallas Cowboys suffered a disappointing playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers, but objectively, their season still has to be considered a great success. Now the Cowboys must turn their attention to some of their key free agents, and Dez Bryant and DeMarco Murray are right at the top of that list.
Obviously Dez Bryant should be Jerry Jones' top priority. He is among the best wide receivers in the league, and he is still improving as a player. Although running back is the most fungible position in football, Jones has indicated that he would like to bring back Murray also. The key will be affording both players.
"It's going to be a challenge," Jones told ESPN. "Is it financially reasonable? No. Is it possible? Yes. But if you just looked at it from dollars and cents, it probably doesn't look reasonable. You have to figure out how you get there, but at the end of the day you realize it's going to be costly to have both of those players."
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Jones has said previously that if the team cannot get a long-term deal done with Bryant - which is expected to approach or exceed $100 million - that the team would use the franchise tag on him for the upcoming season.
Murray's case is less clear, not only because of how easily many teams have found it to be to replace a running back, but also because Murray notched 392 carries this season. History shows that backs that approach 400 carries - 370 is considered the magic number - generally experience a marked decline in their effectiveness after the heavy-workload season.
There is no doubt that Murray was great this season, but Dallas does not want to be stuck paying him for past performance instead of future returns.
Jones hinted that cornerback Brandon Carr may be asked to take a pay cut to help Dallas with their cap issues. "Carr played well the last month. I'm not as critical of him as some others, but that's a lot of money," Jones said. "One thing we've got to do in every way we can is get the value for the money."
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