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The NFL has a three-day window before the start of free agency where players and teams can negotiate contracts. Apparently, Murray and the Cowboys didn't talk during that window. He'll be a free agent at 4 p.m. eastern time on Tuesday.
The Cowboys only have $8 million in salary cap room - which is 27th out of 32 teams. Re-signing Murray would severely limit their ability to make any other moves, and might even necessitate a few more roster cuts.
Back in January, Jerry Jones said it wasn't "financially reasonable" to bring back both Murray and wide receiver Dez Bryant, who the Cowboys re-signed with the franchise tag before free agency:
"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."
There's also this: Murray removed all references to the Cowboys from his Twitter profile in the middle of the night.
Here's the before:
The after:
Dallas' apparent reluctance to work out a deal with Murray is a sign of the diminished importance of the running back position. Murray was the best running back in the league in 2014, yet when forced to choose between keeping him or Dez Bryant, Dallas prioritized re-signing Bryant.
The Murray situation comes after the Eagles offloaded star running back LeSean McCoy in a salary dump.