Alfred Morris‘ NFL experience rings quite familiar for the modern running back.
Morris came out of nowhere after the Washington Redskins drafted him in the 6th round in 2012. That season, the rookie rose to stardom with 1,613 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns. He only trailed Adrian Peterson and Arian Foster in those categories, respectively.
Morris followed that performance up with two Pro Bowl appearances in 2013 and 2014. But, in his contract year, Alfred struggled to the tune of 751 yards and one touchdown.
At just age 27, the Redskins deemed Morris on the decline and expendable. Such is the life of NFL running backs these days.
Morris doesn't like it.
Here are Alfred's thoughts on his free agency process, from ESPN's John Keim:
“The free-agency process was very insulting, to just say the least,” Morris said in a conference call with the Washington media Wednesday. “I didn't like it one bit. I don't want to do it again.”
…
“It was a crazy experience and just due to last season and everybody saying my production went down, a lot of people threw shots at me and tried to say, ‘Hey, he just wasn't good,'” said Morris.
Eventually, Morris landed in Dallas on a two-year, $5.5 million contract to back up rookie Ezekiel Elliott. Keim also notes that he drew interest from the Denver Broncos and Miami Dolphins, but in the end, signing a running back wasn't their top priority. At the position, cheaper options are always available.
In the end though, Morris is happy he ended up in the Big D:
“I was like, wow, man this is not going the way I expected it to go,” Morris said. “Eventually Dallas came knocking. I did a visit and it just seemed like a good fit. So I said, ‘Why not?' It's a rival team, but I didn't even think about that. I was a kid trying to keep his dream alive and it just happened to fall to the rival team.”
(Stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference)
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