Dallas Cowboys News: Giants, Colts, 49ers, Jets, Among Teams Willing To Pay DeMarco Murray?

Running backs beginning to regain their value in NFL | Charean Williams, The Star Telegram The Star Telegram
The Cowboys are trying to figure out what price DeMarco Murray will command on the free-agent market, and while they do, Charean Williams makes a case for why running backs are more valuable than their current market value suggests.

Cowboys counting on soft market for DeMarco Murray | ProFootballTalk
LeSean McCoy will get $10.25 million from the Bills in 2015, Marshawn Lynch is set to make $12 million in Seattle in 2015, and the Vikings want Adrian Peterson back for $12 million.

Quietly proud and deeply principled, Murray may decide that he won’t give the Cowboys a chance to even offer a hometown discount over the best offer he gets from a team that makes him the kind of offer the Cowboys have refused to make.

The Giants could be an intriguing option, keeping him in the division and pairing him with Eli Manning. The Vikings, if Peterson told coach Mike Zimmer and G.M. Rick Spielman that he wants out of Minnesota, would make sense — if they can synchronize a trade for Peterson with the pursuit of Murray. The Cardinals, 49ers, Colts, Jets, and Raiders also could become intriguing options for Murray, if it becomes widely believed that Murray would really leave Dallas and if those teams want a one-man band at tailback.

George: We'll know soon what the market will be for DeMarco Murray | Brandon George
In a chat with fans, George opines on how soon the Cowboys will get clarity on Murray's market value.

I would think very quickly. Teams that are interested in DeMarco Murray won't sit back and wait. He'll be a top target for teams in free agency, so I would think the market would be set for him pretty quickly ...

Doug Free, Cowboys closing in on multi-year contract - NFL.com
The Cowboys know how important it is to keep their offensive line together. NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport reported on Friday night that Dallas and right tackle Doug Free are close to a multi-year contract.

The longtime starting right tackle -- at just 31 -- is the elder-statesman of one of the best position groups in the NFL. Free checks in at No. 49 on Around The NFL's list of the top 101 free agents, and in a shallow market for starting-caliber tackles, teams in need can cross another option off the list.

Cowboys 2015 Free Agents: Sources Report Cowboys Close To Deal With Doug Free - Blogging The Boys
There has been plenty of debate about which right tackle the Cowboys would keep, the tested veteran in Free, or the replacement in Jermey Parnell. It looks like that question has been answered. Parnell will likely want to test his services on the market now, trying to sell himself to a team that might give him a chance to start.

Cole Beasley on his new deal, his near retirement and his Roger Goodell photobomb | Dallas Morning News
Cole Beasley talked to KRLD-FM 105.3 about his almost-retirment as a rookie.

I’m really glad I didn’t stick with that decision because I definitely would have regretted it. I was just really overwhelmed. I had never dealt with anything like that. There was stuff coming at me from so many directions at one time, and it was just too much to handle. And if it was stressing me out that much, I didn’t feel like that was what I wanted to do with my career. I started getting sick in the mornings; I’d wake up in the mornings and have to throw up. I wasn’t sick or anything. Something was making me that way. I think it was just all the stress built up…but that day I went home and talked to my dad, I feel like that was a real defining moment for me, it made me who I am today, and I don’t know if my career would be the same without that day…He kind of just made it more simple for me, like I was over thinking just everything, and he just simplified everything for me, and it was hard to focus on just football when I was there before I went home.

What I see in Kevin Johnson, CB, Wake Forest | Bob Sturm, DMN
A day after Mel Kiper picked Kevin Johnson for the Cowboys in his latest mock draft, Bob Sturm offers this ringing endorsement of the former Demon Deacon.

If you are Dallas and in need for a scheme fit with tremendous upside and looks to be a real value, I believe this player would be pretty high on the list if he falls to #27. Easily, my 2nd favorite corner to this point of the study.

Quarterback Desperation Rankings: How screwed is your NFL team? - CBSSports.com
CBSSports ranks all 32 teams, from best to worst, by who's under center. On a descending scale from 32 to 1, Tony Romo comes in at a respectable 26th despite "some back issues."

Tony Romo will be 35 in April but is coming off the best season of his career. Like Rodgers, he got a late start and appears to have plenty left in him, especially while playing behind a jacked-up offensive line in one of the league's best offenses. The Cowboys don't have to worry about quarterbacks at all right now, but Romo's still getting up there in age and has had some back issues.

Brian Orakpo: I wouldn't mind playing for Cowboys - NFL.com
Brian Orakpo would like to remain with the Washington Redskins. However, if that can't happen the Texas native wouldn't mind returning home, even to play for the rival Dallas Cowboys.

While the pass rusher spoke warmly about the Redskins organization, NBC4's Diana Russini reported that according to sources with the team, "he will not be back." If that report rings true, Orakpo will need to find a new home. The pass rusher wouldn't rule out Redskins rival, the Dallas Cowboys.

"I wouldn't mind it, I wouldn't mind it," he said of switching allegiances. "I mean, I know it's been a big rivalry for years, but I'm a Texas boy man, so I wouldn't mind it."

He also said he "wouldn't mind" playing on a half a dozen other teams that he was peppered with.

Brian Orakpo Interested In Signing With Texans? - Battle Red Blog
Lies, lies, lies.

Ndamukong Suh a Dallas Cowboy? Maybe in fantasy - Todd Archer, ESPN Dallas
Ndamukong Suh is the big prize in free agency, and the Dallas Cowboys could consider a run at him, but Archer argues that the contract Suh would require might not sit well with other players the Cowboys have kept "waiting in line" for big contracts.

If You Could Have One Player From Each NFC East Team ... - Blogging The Boys
In July last year, we as our readers: If you could have your choice of one player from each NFC East team for the Cowboys' 2014 roster, which three would you pick? This is a post and a comment section you may want to check out on the eve of free agency, just for fun.