The Dallas Cowboys finally got the ball rolling in free agency on Wednesday, though they didn’t exactly make a wave of signings.
While they agreed to terms with Bears linebacker Jack Sanborn, they made a pair of trades for former first-round picks who have largely disappointed in the early stages of their respective career: Bills cornerback Kaiir Elam and Titans linebacker Kenneth Murray Jr.
The Cowboys desperately needed bodies at cornerback and linebacker and they hardly paid a premium for both players. They essentially just swapped a couple of day three picks and moved down in the draft a little. Neither trade was egregious in terms of draft compensation given up.
It’s fair to want them to go after better players, however. Of the two, it stands to reason that Murray will have the bigger role in 2025. Not only has Murray had more “success” in the league (we use that term loosely) but he’s on a much bigger contract.
It was expected that the Titans would eat some of Murray’s salary to facilitate the trade, but that unfortunately is not the case.
Cowboys will reportedly pay all of Kenneth Murray’s 2025 salary
According to Tommy Yarrish of the team’s official website, Dallas will absorb all of Murray’s 2025 salary. Murray has a $5.9 million salary and will count $7.6 million against the salary cap next season, per Over The Cap. It sounds like the Cowboys will pay every penny.
That is a lot of money to pay a linebacker who hasn’t been good.
It could signify that defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus thinks he can tap into Murray’s unrealized potential. Eberflus was a linebackers coach for nine years, seven of which were with Dallas, before he became a DC with the Colts in 2018. Eberflus is renowned for developing linebackers. Perhaps Murray can step into Eberflus’ school of teaching and come out a better player.
The Cowboys better hope that’s the case as Murray’s 35.0 run-defense grade ranked 185 out of 189 qualified linebackers last season, per PFF. His 45.9 overall defensive grade placed 169th at the position and his 54.4 coverage grade checked in 119th.
Where Murray does bring some value is as a pass-rusher. Over the last three seasons, he’s accumulated 39 pressures, eight sacks, 23 hurries and 13 quarterback hits.
Eberflus loves to blitz his linebackers and move them around the formation, so maybe Dallas is the ideal landing spot for Murray to resurrect his career.
Regardless if Eberflus is able to maximize Murray’s potential, it is egregious that the Cowboys couldn’t negotiate Tennessee to eat some of Murray’s salary.
