Now that the Eagles have landed DeMarco Murray, they'll be replacing the NFL's leading rusher in 2013 (LeSean McCoy) with 2014's leading rusher.
"I felt that this was a great opportunity for me to win a Super Bowl, at the end of the day," Murray said Thursday after signing a five-year, $42 million contract with the Eagles. "It wasn't about financial security or anything like that. Obviously, you want something that you deserve, something that is respectful. Those two things are important to me, and I was able to accomplish that. I think the Eagles have a great chance to win a Super Bowl."
Eagles coach Chip Kelly said the team originally thought that Murray, the NFL's leading rusher in 2014, would be out of the team's price range. The Eagles tried to sign former San Francisco 49ers running back Frank Gore. After initially agreeing to terms with the Eagles, though, Gore decided to sign with the Indianapolis Colts.
After Gore told the Eagles he was joining the Colts, Kelly placed a call to Murray.
It's strange to say that Lesean McCoy, someone who racked up 2,926 rushing yards over the past two seasons with the Eagles -- collecting a rushing title in 2013-- is a poor fit for Chip Kelly's system. However, DeMarco Murray seems to be a better fit for the offense that Kelly runs. In an Eagles offense designed to give runners multiple tracks at the line of scrimmage, Murray's combination of body control, vision and power will make him a first-down machine as the designated workhorse of a zone-based running scheme.
Although Eagles fans were baffled and upset by some of the moves the team made, the Eagles saw their Super Bowl odds improve with this latest move in their offseason overhaul. After initially holding steady on the Eagles, the Westgate SuperBook moved the Eagles from 20-1 to 16-1 to win the Super Bowl following the Murray news.
Do you think DeMarco has improved his chances of winning a championship? Did Chip Kelly upgrade the situation in the Eagles' backfield by trading away McCoy and getting Murray?
Let me know what you think:
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