Nick Eatman is the author of the recently published ****If These Walls Could Talk: Dallas Cowboys****, a collection of stories from the Cowboys' locker room, sideline and press box, with a foreword written by Darren Woodson.
IRVING, Texas – No one is ever satisfied around here. To some degree, it's probably a good thing.
Whether or not that's the way we are as a society, it's certainly how things go with the Cowboys, their fans, the media and probably the players.
Six straight wins is a great thing. But now we're all wondering when it's going to end, and if the season will end in disappointment.
And lately, there seems to be more talk about next February and March than the upcoming game with the Redskins.
What DeMarco Murray is doing is exciting. I say we enjoy it a little more and not worry about if he'll be doing it again next year in Dallas.
Yeah, he's in the final year of his contract, and he's doing what a lot of guys do in a "contract year." He's balling out – to the highest level – and doing things no running back in this great game has ever done. It's amazing. And yet most fans are worried if he'll leave.
Or some of them are worried that the Cowboys might be giving him too many carries.
Or some are worried the Cowboys will give him too much money and he'll turn into a lot of backs we see around the league and fall off quickly.
All of them are legitimate things to be concerned about at some point, but does it need to be right now in Week 8? The Redskins are coming to town and they don't care about Murray or Dez Bryant's contracts. They just want to keep them out of the end zone.
Let's hope that's what the Cowboys are focused on, too. And I wouldn't expect a Jason Garrett-coached team to conduct business any other way.
But the reason why I say Cowboys fans should just calm down on contract stuff is because … these guys aren't going anywhere.
Think about it, when is the last time Jerry Jones and the Cowboys got rid of a young, superstar player in his prime? It doesn't happen.
Say what you want about what DeMarcus Ware is doing in Denver, but that was the risk the Cowboys chose to take on an aging player who had become injury-prone. Personally, I would've liked to see him stay and he tried to do that, but the Cowboys wanted to go in another direction.
But that's not the case for Murray and Bryant. These guys are younger, and they're not giving the Cowboys reasons to think they might be slowing down.
They will be back – mark my words. If I had to guess, I'd say Bryant gets a long-term deal similar to Tyron Smith because he's young enough to stretch it out for years and not take a huge hit right now on the cap.
The huge hit might go to Murray, who could get the franchise tag if the two sides don't come to an agreement. And because a one-year franchise number in the range of $9-10 million per season isn't something Murray would likely want, he might decide to take a deal that pays him less annually, but with more guaranteed years.
[embeddedad0]Either way, don't expect the Cowboys to let these guys go.
Now, there are some others that will require tougher decisions. Rolando McClain, Doug Free, Jermey Parnell, Dwayne Harris, Cole Beasley, Justin Durant, George Selvie, Bruce Carter, Nick Hayden, Anthony Spencer, Henry Melton … the list is rather long.
All of those guys won't be back next year, nor should they be back. That's what happens when you win. Teams want your players and you have to be smart about who you keep.
Some of those "glue" guys will be playing for other teams next year. But I'd be more than shocked beyond belief if Murray and Bryant are in that group.
They aren't glue guys. They're the building blocks, and they're not going anywhere.
