While the Professional Football Writers of America’s awards aren’t official, they often foreshadow the results of the AP voting, and if that’s the case this year, that’s good news for Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray. The PFWA selected Murray as the Offensive Player of the Year after a season in which he ran away with the NFL’s rushing title by nearly 500 yards (Twitter link). Murray joins MVP Aaron Rodgers and Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt as today’s PFWA honorees.
Here’s more from around the NFC East:
- Appearing on WFAN Sports Radio in New York today, Giants co-owner John Mara said he hasn’t discussed a new contract with head coach Tom Coughlin yet, though he expects those discussion to take place “fairly soon.” Mara also identified the Giants’ offensive line as the position most in need of an upgrade (Twitter links via Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News).
- The Giants have hired former Rams defensive coordinator Tim Walton as their defensive backs/secondary coach, a source tells Jordan Raanan of NJ.com.
- Former agent Joel Corry examines the upcoming offseason decisions for the Cowboys in a piece at CBSSports.com, focusing on the club’s cap situation, along with its two notable free-agents-to-be, Dez Bryant and Murray. While Corry views the franchise tag as a near-lock for Bryant if no long-term agreement is reached, he’s less certain the team will retain Murray, pointing out that while running backs haven’t done well on the open market recently, one of Murray’s caliber hasn’t become available for quite some time. Earlier today, we heard that Murray was a good bet to reach the open market in March.
- Cowboys offensive coordinator Bill Callahan will pursue other possibilities so he’s unlikely to re-sign with Dallas during the exclusivity period, according to ESPN.com’s Ed Werder (via Twitter).