Eagles To Trade Murray To Titans

The Eagles have a trade in place that will send DeMarco Murray to the Tennessee Titans.

Adam Schefter was first with the news and Murray’s agency confirmed it.

A trade & new contract has been orchestrated to make @DeMarcoMurray a member of the Tennessee @Titans. pic.twitter.com/WlUez4wyXT

— SportsTrust Advisors (@_SportsTrust) March 8, 2016

Murray signed a five-year, $40 million contract last offseason when Chip Kelly was at the controls. His base salary of $7 million was guaranteed for 2016. As is the case with the Byron Maxwell/Kiko Alonso trade with Miami, this allows the Eagles to get a bad contract off the books and offers some financial relief. 

Under Murray’s deal with the Eagles, the team would save $4M in a trade. They would absorb $4M cap hit.

— Zach Berman (@ZBerm) March 8, 2016

Finding a trade partner was seen as a bit of an undertaking given the burdensome financials attached to Murray. That obstacle was seemingly removed with the back’s willingness to rework his deal.

Murray never felt at home in Philadelphia.  He proved to be a poor system fit in Chip Kelly‘s offense, and was soon relegated to what essentially turned out to be a backup role. The 2014 rushing champ finished with 702 yards on 193 carries (3.6 avg.).There was the somewhat famous talk with owner Jeffrey Lurie to voice his displeasure on the flight home from a win in New England, and a persistent feeling that Murray and the Eagles were like oil and water.

Murray’s uneasiness continued despite Kelly’s firing, as the bad taste of 2015 lingered as did his concerns about the direction of the team. The Eagles were equally interested in finding an out if available.

Both sides had their doubts as to whether a trade could be manufactured, though  a new sense of optimism crept into the Murray camp early Monday. Turns out, that optimism was warranted.

Head coach Doug Pederson raised some eyebrows with his response recently when asked if Murray is unhappy.

“I don’t know. I haven’t talked to him,” Pederson said. “I can’t tell you one way or the other if he is or not. I’d love to have him.”

Roseman later told PFT that he had spoken to Murray, and that the back wanted to remain in Philly.

“My last conversation with him was just that,” said Roseman, ‘that he wants to be here and this is the place he wants to have a tremendous amount of success like he had in Dallas. I think sometimes we forget a year ago at this time he’s coming off the NFL offensive player of the year. I mean that’s a tremendous honor, tremendous accomplishment to be able to do that and we’re not talking about five, six years ago. We’re talking about one year ago.”

What a difference a year — and a regime change — makes.