Turns out the Eagles gave away DeMarco Murray for almost nothing
The Eagles and Titans reportedly swapped fourth-round picks in the DeMarco Murray trade, meaning they got nothing for him.
By
Will Brinson
•
2 min read
Howie Roseman really wanted to get rid of Chip Kelly's players. While he was able to ditch a ship Byron Maxwell and Kiko Alonso to the Dolphins and pick up five spots in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft, the Eagles personnel head didn't get quite as much from the Titans for DeMarco Murray.
In fact, he got almost literally nothing in the deal. According to multiple reports -- first by Geoff Mosher of 97.5 the Fanatic -- the Titans and Eagles swapped fourth-round picks in the DeMarco deal.
Yes, that is correct. In order to obtain a living, breathing, 28-year-old running back with an 1,800-yard rushing season in the last two years, the Titans moved down 13 spots in the fourth round of the upcoming draft.
The specific draft pick is still unknown because compensatory picks still need to be released, but right now it's like moving down from No. 97 overall to No. 110 overall (the Eagles actually have two fourth-round picks in that range, but 13 spots are what everyone's hearing).
If you follow the Jimmy Johnson trade value chart, this is the equivalent of a mid-fifth round pick (specifically No. 136 overall). It's actually more than the move sounds like, which tells you just how cheap the swap was.
Murray looked terrible for most of 2015, and acquiring running backs is often a futile exercise. But reports indicate Murray will re-work his deal with the Titans, with a lot of it being moved to incentives and a total of $12.5 million guaranteed (with $6 million guaranteed in 2016).
The best news about Murray for the Titans is Murray's workload with the Eagles. Because he was ineffective and unhappy, he was also underused. The result was less than 200 touches for the would-be workhorse.
Plug him in a system where he's fed the rock and allowed to run downhill (potentially with Laremy Tunsil added to the mix via the draft) and you could see a rebirth for Murray.
What's wild is the Cowboys didn't get in on this. We knew there was interest in Murray out there. Maybe the Eagles had no interest in giving Dallas a running back for such a small cost? Or maybe they weren't going to send him back to Dallas period.
The reality is this deal looks like one of those rare win-win deals. The Titans get a running back to ease the load on Marcus Mariota and don't give up much for him, while the Eagles get to unload an unhappy employee who was soaking up a lot of salary-cap space.
