DeMarco Murray not ideal for Oakland Raiders

The Oakland Raiders need to have an active offseason with plenty of strong additions to the skill positions in order to give promising young quarterback Derek Carr a legit shot at succeeding in his second season, and many have speculated that Dallas Cowboys star running back DeMarco Murray would be an ideal fit for the Raiders organization. He’ll most likely hit the free agent market with the cash-strapped Cowboys unsurprisingly set to make the even more important Dez Bryant a priority, and the thought of a Murray-Murray combo with the promising Latavius Murray definitely sounds tantalizing.

There’s no doubt that the Cowboys feature back was the best running back in the NFL last season, and he’s a top-five back overall who runs with strength, makes defenders miss, and can make an impact in the passing game. I remember back when people questioned his game, and he destroyed his critics with an excellent 1,100-yard season in 2013 thanks to his return to good health. Able to carry the rock 393 times in the regular season last year, health clearly wasn’t an issue for him.

The problem is that the Cowboys seemed content to wear the tread on Murray’s tires, and it never seemed like they intended to re-sign him. Despite all the “we might…” rhetoric from Jerry Jones, the Cowboys rode Murray to historic carry totals for a reason; they don’t give two craps about his health going forward.

They could have easily spelled him with Lance Dunbar and Joseph Randle, as Scott Linehan is comfortable running two-back sets. In fact, we thought that would be the case based on talk in the offseason, but the Cowboys never seemed to care. Heck, they even stopped the “We’ll rest him…eventually” talk at the beginning of the year.

So yeah, the point is that Murray heads onto the free agent market with a bigger injury history and more recent wear-and-tear than most soon-to-be 27-year-old stars. Latavius Murray may be only two years younger, but the fact of the matter is that he’s only had 82 carries, meaning that he might as well be a 23-year-old breaking into the NFL. He had a major injury, but it’s not like they were recurring issues.

Based on how well Murray has played through his entire career- and not just last season- he would be a massive asset for any team, including the Raiders. This is a guy who has consistently been among the league leaders in missed tackles forced, he’s caught 110 passes in the past two seasons, he can wear down defenses with his toughness, he’s fast, and he’s probably a top-ten back in terms of vision. This guy has the total package, and that’s why he averaged 4.7 yards per carry on nearly 400 carries after breaking the 5.0 mark in 2013.

Plenty of teams should go after DeMarco Murray in free agency, but I don’t think the Raiders are one of those teams. They have needs all over the place on defense, massive holes at wide receiver that can’t be filled by just drafting guys (unless they want to skimp out on defense in the draft, which is not recommended), and it would be wise for them to add a running back. Latavius Murray intrigues me and could be a monster breakout candidate, but the Raiders would be wise to hedge their bets with a veteran in case he doesn’t pan out or can’t hold up to be a true feature back.

More from NFL Spin Zone

While the Raiders would be wise to add a veteran as insurance, signing Murray to a big-money contract doesn’t exactly seem like “insurance” to me. They could ease his workload and prolong his career by giving plenty of touches to the other Murray, but the elder Murray still isn’t wort the cost.

DeMarco Murray would be an excellent addition for a contender that could use an elite running back to take them to the next level, which would be a situation like the Baltimore Ravens replacing Justin Forsett with him or the Indianapolis Colts or Atlanta Falcons finally adding a star back. But the Raiders? How does it make sense for a team that is clearly in rebuilding mode (seriously, nobody should be in denial about this, especially when new head coach Jack Del Rio finally and wisely put that on the line in his opening presser) to spend big money on a running back with some risk associated?

It doesn’t. Even though the Oakland Raiders have a beyond copious amount of cap space, that space fills up quickly when you talk about adding talented players on defense and at receiver, which are more important areas of need for the both the Raiders and as far as positional values goes in the league.

Murray is an elite back and deserves all the praise he can get, and, again, he’d be an excellent add for several teams. The Raiders aren’t one of them, as it’s better for them to save their money for other spots on the roster. Just add a steady veteran and pair him up with their current Murray, who, as many will tell you, has some upside worth tapping into into.

Next: Where do the Raiders rank among the best franchises in NFL history?

Home/Las Vegas Raiders