Listening to Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones speak, it's easy to see why running back DeMarco Murray is in Philadelphia now.
NFL.com reported that despite Murray's franchise-record 1,845 rushing yards in 2014, Jones believes that the Cowboys will be a better rushing team in 2015 than it was last season.
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"When you say the entire running game -- and that would be including our tight ends, including fullbacks, the entire game -- we're better. We're better," Jones said Wednesday at the team's annual golf outing.
"Murray certainly is in that thought, but what we've got a chance to do with our depth, what we've got a chance to do with the talent, the competition that we have, and I'm assuming that we can protect (Tony) Romo, which standing here last year, the concerns about his surgeries were more so than today.
"So if Romo can have the kind of year that he had last year, then our running game will benefit from that."
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Ironically, it was the Cowboys' commitment to the running game that ended up protecting Romo, who was coming off multiple-season back injuries. Dallas would have to have a lot of a lot of faith in Romo's long-term health to highlight the passing game first to set up the running game.
Dallas brought in Oakland Raiders free agent Darren McFadden and Arizona Cardinals free agent Ryan Williams to compete with Joseph Randle and Lance Dunbar for time at the running back position.
Jones' son, Cowboys Chief Operation Officer Stephen Jones, already has ruled out the Cowboys mortgaging their future to acquire Adrian Peterson in a trade from the Minnesota Vikings.
Former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice has been mentioned as a possible addition to the Cowboys, and former St. Louis Rams/Atlanta Falcons running back Steven Jackson still is hoping to latch on with a winning franchise for 2015.
"That's the thing," the 31-year-old Jackson told ESPN.com. "I have all the things I've accomplished personally, but I've still never been on a team that won more than eight games. That would be definitely one of the things that I'm looking for is that opportunity in my next chapter."
Whether that next opportunity is with the Cowboys is up to Jerry and Stephen Jones.
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