The three-year, $15 million contract signed last year by running back Latavius Murray in Minnesota became, on closer inspection, a one-year deal with a team option for each of the next two. Before March 16, the Vikings have to decide whether to keep Murray around for year two.
That’s the day his $5.15 million salary for 2018 becomes fully guaranteed, triggering a $6.35 million cap number. Cutting Murray before then results in a cap hit of $1.2 million, with the ability to split the dead money over two years if the move is designated as a post-June 1 release.
So what will the Vikings do? New offensive coordinator John DeFilippo arrives from an Eagles team that had multiple options at tailback. With Jerick McKinnon headed for free agency, the Vikings may need Murray as the primary alternative to Dalvin Cook, who tore an ACL in Week Four.
McKinnon has said he wants to be “the guy,” and he won’t be the guy in Minnesota if Cook is healthy. Still, if the Vikings are considering paying $5.15 million to Murray, they need to ask whether all or part of that money would be better spent on McKinnon.
Either way, the Vikings should try to keep of the two veteran options as the primary complement to Cook, especially as he recovers from that knee injury. The Vikings then could complete the depth chart by adding another guy through the draft.
Murray had 842 rushing yards in his first season with the Vikings. A lingering ankle problem (about which the Vikings may or may not have fully known when signing him, which could be a factor in the decision on whether to keep him) caused Murray to start slowly; through six weeks, he had no more than 31 yards in any game. In Week Seven, he finally generated more than 100 yards.
But Murray didn’t do much in the playoffs, gaining only 50 yards against the Saints and 18 against the Eagles. His upright running style coupled with an apparent reluctance or inability to blast through the hole resulted in plenty of short gains/no gains/short losses, and a per-carry average for the season of less four yards. (He averaged 2.72 yards per carry in the postseason.)
DeFilippo told Paul Allen of KFAN last week that the Eagles enjoyed “diversity” at the tailback position, and McKinnon would seem to be the better option to give the Vikings a dynamic complement to Cook. With the ability to find elsewhere a between-the-tackles downhill runner (LeGarrette Blount will be available), the Vikings should consider reallocating Murray’s 2018 compensation to McKinnon (if they can persuade him that his best option is to stay) and whoever else they can add to the mix.
Looking at the running back market generally and Murray’s overall production in 2017 specifically, it’s hard to justify devoting so much money to a player who didn’t separate himself from the revolving door of tailback options that constantly is available to every team through free agency and the draft. Thus, the best move may indeed be to move on.