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Cowboys helped by quiet DeMarco Murray front

IRVING, Texas -- The NFL might not like how this has all come out, but we know Ndamukong Suh will be playing for the Miami Dolphins in 2015 and for how much. We know Jeremy Maclin will be moving on from the Philadelphia Eagles to the Kansas City Chiefs and for how much. We know Byron Maxwell will be in Philadelphia and for how much.

So far with Dallas Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray, there has been nothing but media conjecture.

The Jacksonville Jaguars might be in on Murray, but we haven't seen any numbers attached to them like we have in their dealings with another Cowboy, Jermey Parnell, who's expected to sign a five-year, $32 million deal with $13 million guaranteed when the market opens on Tuesday.

We have seen Mark Ingram re-sign with the New Orleans Saints for four years for $16 million. We have seen LeSean McCoy pick up a new deal to facilitate a trade from the Eagles to the Buffalo Bills worth $8 million a year and $26.5 million guaranteed.

But the news with Murray is slow with the general belief among teams that he will rejoin the Cowboys.

While that may happen, it's not a fait accompli and never was.

But it's clear the whispers at the NFL scouting combine of a deal close to $10 million a year were unreliable. While he has said he would like to return, he will also be unafraid to leave for another team if it's the best offer.

Players have to cash in when they can cash in and this is Murray's best chance -- and last chance -- to really cash in.

Free agency hasn't even started yet, but the longer this goes with Murray not being attached to another team, the better it is for the Cowboys.

All along they have set a price -- which is unknown publicly -- on Murray and would be disciplined in that approach. Jerry Jones said he has flexibility in what he would be willing to pay Murray, but that doesn't mean the Cowboys will reach Jones' threshold even if he is the owner and general manager.

Perhaps all of this changes tomorrow when the shopping begins for real, but there is a real sense that if Murray's agent had a top-of-the-line deal in the neighborhood of what McCoy got from Buffalo and Marshawn Lynch got from the Seattle Seahawks, then we would have heard about it already.