DeMarco Murray to Eagles: Comments, Top Takeaways from Press Conference

Reigning NFL rushing champion DeMarco Murray made the bold move of switching NFC East rival jerseys Thursday, jumping from the Dallas Cowboys to the Philadelphia Eagles in free agency.

Murray spoke about joining the Eagles in an introductory press conference alongside his new head coach Chip Kelly, expressing his gratitude to be a part of the team:

One big factor was the presence of new Philadelphia quarterback Sam Bradford, who was Murray's college roommate at the University of Oklahoma, via Eagles Insider:

Jon Machota of The Dallas Morning News logged another key anecdote from Murray's presser:

Former San Diego teammates Ryan Mathews and Darren Sproles will accompany Murray in Philly's backfield. NFL.com's Twitter created a neat graphic, accompanied with a moniker for the Eagles' revamped running back depth chart:

Kelly hinted at the acquisitions of Mathews and Murray in discussing his strategy to replace departed superstar LeSean McCoy:

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones lamented that Dallas' salary-cap constrictions led to Murray playing elsewhere in a statement, which Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports 1 provided in full:

This is the first offseason in which Kelly has had final say on personnel decisions, and there's been no shortage of excitement or aggressiveness in Philadelphia's bid to improve its roster.

Although McCoy is a great individual player, it's hard to argue that the Eagles aren't deeper at a vital position in Kelly's uptempo, run-heavy offense that has translated to the NFL well since he left the University of Oregon.

A history of injuries mandated a capable complement to Mathews. To have Murray be that player and the likely feature back is a bold strategy in an era of pro football where running backs have been unprecedentedly devalued.

Bradford has torn his left ACL twice and missed all of last year, but he has an outstanding cast of ball-carriers to help take the pressure off him—headlined by a close friend in Murray.

Even if Bradford can't stay healthy, the Eagles still retained Mark Sanchez, who proved himself capable of running Kelly's system in 2014 when he posted an 88.4 passer rating and averaged 7.83 yards per attempt in nine games.

As much fluctuation that has gone on in Philadelphia this offseason, the mad array of moves looks to be paying off. Stealing Murray from Dallas is a huge win for Kelly and the Eagles. They have weakened a marquee adversary and positioned themselves to steal back the NFC East crown that the Cowboys took from Philadelphia last season.