PHILADELPHIA — Even DeMarco Murray still seems to find it jarring to see himself in an Eagles uniform.

Players don’t switch sides very often in the fearsome Birds-Cowboys rivalry, especially franchise cornerstones still in their prime and — in Murray’s truly exceptional case — a star coming off one of the best seasons by a running back in NFL history.

But thanks to Dallas’ salary-cap woes and the Cowboys’ misreading of free agency, Murray is indeed on the other side of this NFC East stare down. And loving it.

“I do, I definitely do,” Murray said Monday when asked if he feels like an Eagle now. “I’ve been here for a couple of months, and I’ve become part of this team.

“It’s a great team, a great group of guys, a great group of coaches and a great organization. So I definitely feel like an Eagle. Working with these guys has been amazing.”

Not only was Murray the first player in NFL history to change teams in free agency immediately after winning the league’s Offensive Player of the Year award, but he also is one of the key additions in Philly coach Chip Kelly’s unexpected roster overhaul after a 10-6 finish last season.

Eagles fans — and seemingly the rest of the league, for that matter — were aghast and perplexed when Kelly traded 1,300-yard rusher (and 2013 NFL rushing champion) LeSean McCoy to the Bills at the start of free agency in March.

But Kelly didn’t wait long to clear the confusion, coming out of left field to grab Murray from Dallas with a five-year, $42 million deal that included $21 million guaranteed.

The Cowboys had been slow to retain Murray despite a 2014 season in which the former third-round pick finally lived up to his promise by staying healthy and leading the league in rushing with a career-best 1,845 yards.

Murray, who played all 16 regular-season games for the first time, also caught 57 passes for 416 yards, giving him an eye-popping 2,261 total yards as Dallas claimed the division and won a playoff game for the first time since 2009.

With the Dez Bryant contract looming over them and confident no one would give Murray a huge contract because of his injury history and the general devaluation of the running-back position, the Cowboys gambled — and lost.

As well as being publicly ecstatic to be with the Eagles, Murray also says Philly can match or better its No. 5 league ranking in total offense last season despite having an almost entirely new cast that includes quarterback Sam Bradford and will have to make up for the free-agent departure of 1,300-yard receiver Jeremy Maclin.

“I definitely do [think it can top 2014],” Murray said. “We’ve got playmakers across the board, and the offensive line has a lot of veteran guys who have had a lot of success. I think we’re giving ourselves a good chance to win and to be good.”

Of course, the Eagles will need Murray to stay healthy to achieve that feat. And staying healthy is something he’s struggled with, missing a combined 11 games due to injury his first three seasons.

Murray is just 27 years old, but he has a lot of mileage for a back his age. He is a straight-ahead runner who doesn’t really avoid contact, and Murray already has 1,104 regular-season “touches” (carries and receptions) in his career — including a whopping 449 touches last season.

Kelly appears to have made keeping Murray upright a priority. Not only did Kelly sign former Chargers running back Ryan Mathews, but the Eagles also have Darren Sproles in what looks like a formidable backfield.

Kelly even held a healthy Murray — much to Murray’s apparent dismay — out of team drills on the first day of training camp.

“Obviously, with DeMarco and all of those guys, we feel really good about our depth there,” Kelly said.
And Murray feels good to be an Eagle, no matter how strange he looks in that uniform.