Cowboys: A Free-Agent Running Back Worth Signing

The Dallas Cowboys suffered through a train wreck at running back in 2015 and a particular runner from Miami, Florida could fix the problem.

I’ve always felt like signing a veteran running back from another team in the NFL is akin to buying used underwear at the thrift store. That’s certainly not something that former Dallas Cowboys running back Joseph Randle would do, either – then again I don’t see anybody beating down the door to buy those skivvies, come to think of it.

It’s true that the running back position was a total mess for the Cowboys last season, an issue that one could see coming upon the departure of 2014 NFL rushing-leader DeMarco Murray. With veteran Darren McFadden signed before the ink on Murray’s contract with the Philadelphia Eagles had dried, Dallas was able to alleviate the void left by Murray’s vacancy – no, Randle was never going to be the answer and to this day I’m shocked that McFadden wasn’t getting the bulk of the carries as soon as he was healthy.

The Cowboys are certainly in the market for a young stud to carry the ball in a Cowboys backfield that’s not exactly crowded these days. With only McFadden as a serious contender for the starting job in 2016, it’s important to remember that the former Arkansas Razorbacks superstar will turn 29 years-old just prior to next season. This fact pretty much rules out any long-term commitments to D-Mac, even though he was impressive in rushing for over 1,000 yards for just the second time during his career behind a revolving door of backup quarterbacks trying to replace often injured Tony Romo.

While the NFL draft might be the best place to find the kind of running back the Cowboys need moving forward, there is one runner in this year’s free-agent class that’s beyond intriguing.

Four-year veteran Lamar Miller of the Miami Dolphins could be exactly what the doctor ordered for a Cowboys franchise that’s in ‘win now’ mode over the next few seasons. Those years with Miller could fit precisely over the duration of Romo’s remaining years and would provide Dallas with the kind of 20-plus carries-per-game back that the team was missing last season.

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Miller is a product south Florida going all the way back to his birth in 1991. He attended Killian High School in Miami and from there would run the ball for the Miami Hurricanes in the college ranks. As fate would have it, Miller would go on to be selected by the Dolphins in the fourth round of the 2012 NFL Draft. Turning 25-years old just three days before the ’16 NFL Draft in Chicago, Miller is one of those rare running backs with a few years of experience that’s still worth investing in – in other words, purchased underwear that’s still in the wrapper.

Here’s a rare combination of power and speed that’s rarely seen. At 5’11’ and 225 pounds, Miller has breakaway speed that’s allowed him to earn a career-long carry of 97 yards. He’s rushed for over 1,000 yards just once and hasn’t missed a game over the last three seasons. Miller has never carried the ball more than the 216 he had in 2014 en route to 1,099 yards. His combined total of 638 carries over four seasons is a very low number, one that Emmitt Smith would generate in just a couple of seasons during his hey-day in the early-to-mid 1990s.

Signing Miller is likely to come down to cost, and given that he’s always shared the workload with other Miami runners, that might not be too much.

On the other hand, it’s no secret that Miller is highly talented and quite fresh, at least given his previous experience in the NFL.

Again, it’s never a bad idea to grab one of the top running backs in any given draft provided that he fits the system in all respects. Running back is obviously a position that tends to offer a shorter career than most others in pro football, so get them young and ride them like a thoroughbred while you can.

But there’s some cases, albeit rare instances, in which an experienced running back coming out of his rookie contract is worth taking a look at. This is exactly what happened when then-Eagles head coach Chip Kelly plucked Murray, a four-year veteran at the time, from a free-agent market that wasn’t looking very excited to gain a running back with just one very good year under his belt to go with numerous injuries.

I expect that the desire for Miller’s services will be higher than it seemed to be for Murray a year ago given his apparent durability and overall skill set. Miller has speed that Murray doesn’t have and he’s never been the sole ball-carrier in the Miami backfield. Combine those facts with the reality that a team could realistically expect 4-5 solid years from this experienced running back, and Miller should command something in the neighborhood of the five-year, $40 million contract that Murray signed with the Eagles.

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The Cowboys were right in not over-paying for Murray’s future with the Cowboys. The first year in Philadelphia pretty much pointed this much out, although Murray obviously didn’t have the kind of supporting cast that he did in Dallas in ’14. But at some point, the Cowboys have to make an investment in a running back and they’ll do so either via free agency – possibly with Miller – or they’ll have to make the right call at some point early in the ’16 draft in a couple of months.

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