Darren McFadden signed with the Dallas Cowboys earlier this offseason in hopes that a change of scenery could help him turn his disappointing career around. Unfortunately, that has not happened and the Cowboys are beginning to be frustrated with his injury issues that have already come up early on during training camp.
#Cowboys frustration building over injury absence of Darren McFadden and effect having on workload of other running backs
— Ed Werder (@Edwerderespn) August 6, 2015
Anyone that had watched McFadden during his tenure with the Raiders would have known that this was coming. He never stayed healthy in Oakland, and even when he did there was always fear of a new injury. Injuries are just something that comes with McFadden, and a team can get him healthy for two or maybe three games throughout the course of an entire season.
Needless to say, this puts the Cowboys in a very interesting position. Joseph Randle could potential be a legitimate starting running back, but they don’t have a backup that could step into the starting job if needed. Free agency might be their only choice, and there are a few different options on the market.
Ray Rice and Chris Johnson are by far the best two options available for the Cowboys, while Pierre Thomas could also be another player they could look into.
One thing is for sure, this could mark the beginning of the end for McFadden in the NFL. There wasn’t a lot of interest in him in free agency because of injury concerns, and he was hoping to prove himself to the league and earn a bigger deal with a solid season in Dallas. Obviously that isn’t going to happen, and these injuries in a new situation might be exactly what sinks his career.
Looking ahead at the next few weeks, the Cowboys are going to be patient to see if McFadden can turn things around during camp. If he can’t get healthy soon, then rumors will begin swirling about the Cowboys being interested in signing another running back. Assuming he’s not ready to go for the second or third preseason game, the Cowboys will have signed a new running back and could be willing to cut their losses and dump McFadden.
This is a very disappointing piece of news, but it isn’t something that was unexpected by the Cowboys.
