Jerry Jones: It will be a ‘challenge’ to bring back Dez Bryant and DeMarco Murray

Dallas Cowboys fans may have to brace for a future without Dez Bryant or DeMarco Murray next season.

Bryant and Murray posted career years in 2014 and helped the Cowboys achieve a 12-4 record, but both are free agents. The Cowboys have plans to keep Bryant via the franchise tag or a long-term deal, meaning Murray will likely either have to return on a team-friendly deal or get paid elsewhere.

On Thursday, team owner and GM Jerry Jones said it would be a “challenge” to bring back both players.

“Let me put it like this: It’s going to be a challenge,” Jones said via the Dallas Morning News. “But is it … financially reasonable? No. Is it possible? Yes. But if you just look at it from the standpoint of dollars and cents it probably doesn’t look reasonable. But then you got to factor in how you get there. But at the end of the day, you do realize it’s going to be costly to have both those players.”

The latest report said the Cowboys had a 4-year, $16 million offer on the table for Murray, which hardly seems reasonable for the league’s leading rusher, regardless of whatever off-field stuff he has going on.

Since being drafted by the Cowboys 24th overall in 2010, Bryant has been a consistent playmaker. He has scored 58 touchdowns during his career, including a league-leading 16 receiving touchdowns this season. Murray led the league with 392 carries, 1,845 rushing yards and tied for the league lead with 13 rushing touchdowns. Though he was outstanding this season and instrumental to the team’s success, Murray missed 11 games over the three previous seasons and will be 27 next year. For those reasons, Bryant is the better long-term investment for Dallas. Still, they would love to have both players back.

Like Jones said, this is a good problem for the team to have.