Well, we're back. You never realize just how much you depend on Blogging The Boys on a daily basis until it is taken away from you. It's good to see the guys already back at it and plugging away in the Fanposts like nothing has happened. We really do apologize for the frustration these technical issues have caused, but the reality of it is that whenever you are working with new software or new equipment or basically doing anything new, things go wrong. It's just the way of the technology world. All we can do is fix the problems and move on.

Grizz posted an apology earlier today and I just wanted to echo his sentiments. We highly value our readers, not only here at Blogging The Boys but across SBN as well. We hope that you stick with us through these growing pains and do not get too discouraged. This is the first time anything like this has happened and the tech guys are working around the clock to ensure that nothing like this happens again.

Remember that the draft is just a day away and there is no better place to go than here for the best Cowboys blogging on the internet. With that being said, we now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

In the midst of the technical issues we've been having Mocking The Draft posted the Dallas Cowboys second round pick. We had a poll on Wednesday asking for the BTB community to vote for who they think the Cowboys should draft in that spot and Mario Manningham barely edged out Tyrell Johnson. I made an executive decision and drafted Johnson with the 61st pick. If I have to be completely honest, I just cannot see the Cowboys drafting a receiver in the first two rounds. The Cowboys are very high on their young receivers and truly believe that Isaiah Stanback has the ability to become a playmaker in the NFL. The Cowboys are a team on the verge of greatness and drafting a player in round two that may take a few years to really develop is not in the team's best interest. Johnson is a tremendous player who will most likely go very early in the second round and and the Cowboys would be foolish to pass him up at #61.

Well, the Cowboys finally made the trade for Pacman Jones. The whole thing seemed a bit anti-climactic to me and I am just glad that it's over. I was burned out on all of the speculation in the media and endless rumors that spread across the web like wildfire. I think that a fourth round pick is way to high to trade away for a player who was most likely going to be released anyway, but I am reassured by the fact that there is an insurance clause in the trade to protect the Cowboys. If Pacman does not play this year the Cowboys essentially loaned a 4th rounder for a year in return for one that most likely will be higher in 2009. If he does play, then the Cowboys acquired a top five cornerback for one heck of a deal.

Now that Pacman is officially on the team, and assuming that he is reinstated and he can step in and perform anywhere close to the way he did in 2006, I ask you to name me one team that has a better group of cornerbacks in the league. The Cowboys have just gone from having one of their weakest positions in 2007 become one of their best in 2008. With Pacman and Anthony Henry playing wide and Terence Newman lined up on the slot receiver, it is hard to think that teams will be able to get those long third down conversions like they did last year as they continuously targeted Jacques Reeves. If Pacman can keep out of trouble, the Cowboys' defense just became a very dangerous group of guys (no pun intended).

I am not very happy that he is on the team, but I will support him as a Dallas Cowboy just the same. I just don't like having another excuse for the media to make their claims that the team is full of distractions, and I really don't like the idea of having a player with authority issues on the team. But, he is on the team and I have to deal with that. I trust in Calvin Hill and his team in doing the best job possible in putting Pacman back on the straight and narrow, something no one has been able to do yet. But I am and will always be a Cowboys fan and I will support them no matter what. No matter what.

Nick has some details on the not yet finalized trade.

While the story broke on Wednesday that both teams have agreed "in principle" to a trade that would send the suspended cornerback to the Cowboys, both teams spent Thursday not only working on the trade stipulations, but mainly a new contract for Jones.

In what will turn out to be a sign-and-trade deal, the Cowboys restructured Jones' contract, which initially had three years remaining. The Cowboys have added a year, and removed some of the guarantees of the deal, replacing them with more incentive-based clauses.

[snip]

If Jones is not reinstated before the season, the Cowboys would get the Titans' fourth-round pick in 2009. If the cornerback has an incident that forces him to miss games next season, the Cowboys would get Tennessee's fifth-round pick, and the conditional sixth-round pick that would go back to the Titans would be negated.

JJT over at the Dallas Morning News has a few of the players' reactions to the Pacman trade.

The Star-Telegram reports that Jerry Jones received absolutely no assurances that Pacman will be reinstated.

A well respected journalist for The Tennessean says that the Cowboys made a very dumb move by trading for the troubled cornerback.

Todd Archer pens an article stating that the Cowboys could be big traders in this years draft, based on Jerry Jones' history as a GM.

I have to agree on that one.