Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones has declared that the presence of Darren McFadden is the reason his team did not draft a running back despite having lost stud DeMarco Murray to the rival Eagles.
McFadden signed a two-year deal with Dallas. It calls for just $200,000 in guaranteed money, but could be worth as much as $5.85 million, per ESPN.
The scatback has been a disappointment in the NFL. In seven years with Oakland, he exceeded 1,000 yards rushing just once and has 25 touchdowns. He has not averaged more than 3.4 yards per carry since 2011, but the change of scenery and far better surrounding offensive talent could give his career a jump-start.
At least Jones believes so.
"McFadden made a big difference here," he said. "His availability - make no bones about it - we didn't know that McFadden was going to be available when we initially started to think about this year and in our decision regarding that. ... It might have been a little different story had we not had McFadden on our roster in this draft."