League rushing champion DeMarco Murray personally reached out to Philadelphia Eagles coach Chip Kelly on Wednesday morning, expressing his desire to play in Kelly’s spread offense and with former Oklahoma roommate and quarterback Sam Bradford, according to league and team sources.
Murray’s call was enough to prompt tepid interest from the Eagles despite their agreement with former Chargers running back Ryan Mathews. Murray is flying to Philadelphia to meet with Eagles officials on Thursday, a league source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Wednesday night.
The obstacle for Murray signing with the Eagles still would be money, a source said, as Kelly has made it publicly and privately clear that the team will be financially prudent in its personnel decisions.
During Murray’s discussion with Kelly, a source said the running back characterized Bradford, who was acquired by the Eagles from the Rams on Tuesday, as one of his best friends. Both operated successfully out of Oklahoma’s spread offense when they were teammates from 2007 to 2009. Murray also played the 2010 season at Oklahoma after Bradford moved on to the NFL.
“Absolutely. I’ve been trying my hardest,” Bradford said Wednesday of trying to recruit Murray. “I’ve called him. I’ve texted him. I’ve done everything. We’ve been in communication. If we can somehow land him, it would be a great pickup. Not only is he a great player, he’s a great person. He’s a really close friend of mine, too. I think he can really help this ballclub.”
Of course, Murray just won the rushing title in 2014 for the Cowboys, running behind one of the best offensive lines in the league.
The Cowboys are still monitoring Murray’s market in free agency and would like to re-sign him.