Owner Jerry Jones openly acknowledges it will be a challenge to sign both Dez Bryant and DeMarco Murray to lucrative long-term contracts this offseason.
With the franchise tag earmarked for Bryant, that leaves Murray's Dallas Cowboys future up in the air.
Jason Witten isn't alone in his belief that Murray is irreplaceable in the Cowboys offense.
In a Friday morning interview with KESN-FM in Dallas, MVP candidate Tony Romo revealed that he's "pretty consistently" getting on Jones and others in the Cowboys front office about the importance of bringing both stars back.
"Any time you get talented guys where you can put more than two on one side of the ball, you get three, four, if you're lucky enough to ever get five," Romo said, via The Dallas Morning News, "it's one of those things where if you can put a group like that together you can make a run and be very difficult for teams to deal with for years.
"I think that's what you're trying to build ultimately is to have sustained success. We have an opportunity to have that."
NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport recently reported the organization had an offer of $4 million annually on the table for Murray.
Perhaps Jones' low-ball offer and "challenge" comment reflect an effort to drive Murray's price down in a depressedrunning-back market.
Jones has a history of overpaying to keep some stars and dragging his feet in negotiations with others. The tack he has taken with Murray suggests any potential agreement will wait for the early-March deadline to spur action before the onset of free agency.
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