5 Reasons Why the Cowboys Would Be Idiotic to Trade for Adrian Peterson

They'd Have to Trade for Peterson

Hey, here's a good idea. Let your star running back -- one who just won Offensive Player of the Year -- walk, and then trade for a player with a higher salary.

Genius.

This is perhaps the most overlooked aspect of this entire situation. The Cowboys just watched DeMarco Murray sign a 5-year, $40 million contract with the Eagles. Peterson's salary would be roughly 30 percent higher than that figure, and the Cowboys would have to give up something -- most likely draft picks -- in order to obtain him.

This is like giving up your Sam's Club membership for a Costco one, but opting to pay double the amount each month. Just because.

Adrian Peterson is probably a better running back option than DeMarco Murray. No, actually, he is a better option. Since Murray's been in the NFL, he's averaged a 0.04 Rushing Net Expected Points (read more about Net Expected points in our glossary) per rush. The average among backs over this time has hovered around the -0.02 mark (yes, that's a negative number, because rushing is less effective than passing), so Murray's been well above average in terms of efficiency. In fact, among the 22 runners with 500 or more carries over the last four years, Murray's Rushing NEP per rush rate ranks fourth.

Adrian Peterson ranks first.

The one metric we see Murray ahead of Peterson is Success Rate, which measures the percentage of positive runs a running back makes. Since entering the league, no high-volume back has been as good at creating successful runs than DeMarco Murray. Peterson, meanwhile, has a little more boom or bust to his play, ranking as a middle-of-the-road runner within the statistic.

All of this is to say that, while Adrian Peterson is nice and all, DeMarco Murray is a top-five runner in the NFL, too. Getting Peterson through a trade makes absolutely zero business sense when you've just let another top back go less than a month ago.