The Philadelphia Eagles completed a trade that sent running back DeMarco Murray to the Tennessee Titans. The two teams will also exchange fourth-round picks in this year's draft, with the Eagles getting the second pick in the round and the Titans receiving the 15th pick.
Titans swap 4th-round picks with Eagles in DeMarco Murray trade
A year later, the DeMarco Murray experiment is over in Philadelphia.
Jeffrey G. Pittenger-USA TODAY Sports
“I’m excited, and I am going to do my best to help this team out and do as much as I can,” Murray said. “It’s a great opportunity to come here, work hard, and make some things happen. I feel like this truly is a team on the upswing, and I know I can help this team out in a lot of different ways.”
Murray was a big-ticket free agent pickup last offseason, one of many huge changes made to the roster by then-head coach Chip Kelly. Murray was expected to drive the offense forward, and when the team also picked up Ryan Mathews, the secret was out: the Eagles were going to run, and run it a lot.
But Murray’s short time with the Eagles was a major disappointment. He followed up his ridiculous 1,845-yard season with the Dallas Cowboys in 2014 by rushing for just 702 yards in 15 games for the Eagles. He went from 13 touchdowns to six scores, and his yards per carry average dropped from 4.7 in his final year with the Cowboys to a career-low 3.6 under Kelly. His number of carries also fell, from a league-leading 392 in 2014 to 193 last season.
The Titans have serious issues at the running back position. They spent a second-round pick on Bishop Sankey in 2014, but he finished last season with just 193 rushing yards on 47 carries. They then brought in David Cobb in the fifth round of last year’s draft, but he had just 146 yards in his rookie season.
Tennessee recently re-signed Antonio Andrews, who led the team with just 520 yards and three touchdowns last season. However, his per-carry average was a pedestrian 3.6 yards. He was re-signed on a one-year deal, and will likely be the primary backup for Murray at this point. Rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota was second on the team with 252 rushing yards.
Murray reportedly wasn’t happy with his lack of carries with the Eagles. Late in the season, Murray talked to Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie on a team flight about his dissatisfaction with Kelly’s offense. Though Kelly was fired soon after, Lurie insisted that Murray had nothing to do with it. Now it’s clear the Eagles wanted to go in a different direction under new head coach Doug Pederson, and the top order of business was getting rid of Murray’s large contract.
Although Murray led the Eagles in rushing yards, he wasn’t the most productive running back on the team. Mathews sported a team-high 5.1 yards per carry and matched Murray with six touchdowns on the ground. Darren Sproles added 705 yards from scrimmage, while the quicker Kenjon Barner was sometimes given carries over Murray.
Murray, 28, made the Pro Bowl in 2013 and 2014, and was named a first-team All-Pro in 2014. He led the league in rushing that year and was also named the AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year.
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