FanPost

Why is Mike Jenkins is missing OTA's?

For what purpose is Mike Jenkins missing OTA's? Are his feelings hurt? Have the Cowboys shown him a lack of respect by again drafting a cornerback early? When the Cowboys speak so glowingly of Mo, calling him their highest rated cornerback to come out since Deion, does this mean that they have lost faith in Jenkins? Is Jenkins not going to get a fair shake at competing with Brandon Carr? These are all issues that may have some impact on Jenkins missing OTA's. They are not, in my opinion the real reason Jenkins is not in Dallas. The real reason... after the jump!

Mike Jenkins wants to be paid more money. As long as everyone believes that he has his feelings hurt he gets a pass on his real motivation. Don't get me wrong, he has every right to be paid as much as he can. Football and the Cowboys even have a tradition of players holding out to get paid as much as they can. Emmit Smith, for heavens sakes held out at a time when the Cowboys were competing for Superbowls and they lost two games at the beginning of a season as a result. Teams don't want to pay any more than they have to, players want to get paid as much as they can. There is a conflict of interest. Add to that a short window to be able to play and the last year of a contract that is cheap, and teammates who are paid substantially more for poorer performance or projected performance, and you have a recipe for a holdout. ( I know he is not holding out yet.)

I read about how the Cowboys have all the leverage in this situation and I agree that this is true. But this is the question that I want us to ponder. What if the Cowboys had not signed Mo Claiborne? Would the Cowboys have been forced to give Jenkins a raise and resign him early? They did this with Scandrick. And Jenkins would definitely have leverage if Claiborne was not drafted. It would have been interesting to see what would have been. As it is, the Cowboys have avoided a huge mess and this is really just a tempest in a teapot by comparison. Jenkins wants to be paid like Carr. The Cowboys can't and won't do this. Jenkins doesn't want to play in Dallas anyway according to some. Whatever, it all doesn't matter. What matters is that he will have to pay for cheap this year in Dallas or else the Cowboys will have to receive a decent return in a trade to another team. The Claiborne pick to me seems better all the time.

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