Let’s quickly dispense with the normal news from Valley Ranch. There is an OTA today and the media will be allowed to attend. We should get some good reports from Timmy Mac, the Breerman and the others over at the DMN blog.

Yesterday, Pacman Jones returned to a NFL practice field. You can read some of that story here, including Pacman’s big play.

"Our last play of practice, he coolly stepped up, made the play and took it all the way," owner Jerry Jones said. "He told me the other day he gets sore because he's really been pushing himself the last couple of weeks. But in our initial look at him, he's probably in as good of shape as anyone out there -- not ready to play football, but in good shape."

 Also, Greg Ellis is supposed to return to OTA’s today.

 Linebacker Greg Ellis did not show for the Cowboys' organized team activity workouts Tuesday, but he is expected to show up today, a source said.

Terry Glenn hasn’t passed his physical and the Cowboys are still pushing for him to sign a new contract with the injury waiver.  Coverage of the T.O. signing can be found here. JJT says that Jerry Jones has done all he can do to make the Cowboys a winner this year, now it’s up to Wade, the coaching staff and the players. In addition, the Cowboys are still working on an agreement with Ken Hamlin.

 The Cowboys have had recent discussions with the agent for safety Ken Hamlin, but upcoming changes to the collective bargaining agreement have made negotiations tricky.

If the sides cannot come to an agreement by July 15, Hamlin would have to play for the franchise tender worth $4.396 million. He would be unable to sign a long-term deal until the season ends.

OK, how about some offbeat news.

Tony Romo will be playing some golf on Friday that will be broadcast on TV Sunday. Recently, Tiger Woods said this:

On that day, Tiger proclaimed that no average 10-handicapper could break a score of 100 on a course set up in U.S. Open conditions. Numerous other PGA Tour golfers polled agree with Woods' sentiment.

On Friday, we're going to find out if they're right.

That’s right, Romo will play with Justin Timberlake, Matt Lauer and an amateur with an 8-handicap to find out.

Golf Digest Magazine decided to take Tiger's proclamation and put it to a real test by forming ''The U.S. Open Challenge.'' They gathered three celebrities with low handicaps -- Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, NBC ''Today'' show co-anchor Matt Lauer, and singer Justin Timberlake to test their golf skills at Torrey Pines under near Open conditions.

Romo's competitive fire is showing through prior to tee time. To heck with breaking 100, he says he'd be disappointed if he doesn't break 80, before adding that if the wind is blowing off the ocean ''you can add a big number to that.''

Romo’s confidence is never in question. You can read ESPN’s take on Romo’s chances here , including this bottom line.

In layman's terms, Romo is a baller on the course, not just the gridiron.
Prediction: 95

Julius Jones is hatin’ on the Cowboys. Here is his reaction to the benching in the playoffs at the end of the season.

"It was just a feeling of disgust," said the man who had started 39 consecutive regular-season games for the Cowboys.

[snip]

"I definitely have a chip on my shoulder," he said. "I'm going to carry it every single year, every single practice, every single game. It's not going anywhere until I can prove what kind of back that I am and kind of redeem myself from the embarrassment that they have kind of put me through."

A Miami paper has a breakdown on all the Cowboys turned Dolphins here. It includes Anthony Fasano, Jason Ferguson, Akin Ayodele, Keith Davis and Nate Jones. Here’s a taste:

Ayodele: A Cowboys insider said coach Wade Phillips didn't like him because he wasn't a playmaker. After four seasons as an outside linebacker for Jacksonville, he had just one sack in two years as an inside LB in Dallas, and his tackles dropped from 84 in '06 to 57 in '07.

Ocho Cinco won’t give up on the dream of playing in Dallas (or Philly). 

"If I can get out of Cincinnati, the sky's the limit," Johnson told ESPN the Magazine. "What could I do in a place like Philadelphia or Dallas? It would be ridiculous. It's gonna be like a whole new me, like Ocho Cinco 2.0."

 Andre Gurode, fashion model? Don’t laugh – it’s true.

Shauna Tisdale, CEO of Diva Glam, Inc. introduces "Diva Glam Flawless Glamour Fashion Soiree", a new series of fashion shows featuring plus sized models and NFL players. The shows will travel to various cities promoting plus-sized fashions and breast cancer awareness.

That’s right Andre Gurode has agreed to be one of the models and he definitely fits the bill of plus-sized.

The Titans media and fans will be tracking the progress of Pacman Jones just like the Philly contingent did with T.O. Here’s a column on the Cowboys efforts to protect Pacman from trouble from a Tennessee paper, 

Now why didn't the Titans think of that?

Upon further review, the Titans handled this properly. Either you trust your players or you don't. If you're paying a guy millions of dollars to play football and keep his nose clean, you expect him to stay off the police blotter and out of the headlines.

Mickey answers some mail.  Short version: Fasano stunk and was about to lose his job to star of stage and screen Tony Curtis so get something for him. More Jones vs. Mendenhall blather, the secondary is improved but no one is sure what the rotation back there will be. And this statement on the ever-popular Roy Williams (the Dallas one).

Again, [Roy] Williams' poor play at times has less to do with his talent and more to do with his preparation. Camps is already working on that, I understand. And with the plethora of cornerbacks the Cowboys might have, pending Adam Jones' reinstatement, the addition of Zach Thomas and the continued good health of Kevin Burnett, Roy very well might be reduced to a two-down safety even more if he doesn't improve.

We’ve got more special teams return guys now than Jerry’s got money. DC.com explores the subject further. 

Here’s a weird tidbit about the Cowboys trying to sign UDFA’s. 

Maurice Purify wished the only bad thing happening to him Sunday was not being picked in the NFL draft.

Purify was under the impression from Dallas-based agent Gary Glick that he would be, at worst, a late-round draft pick. Instead, he was left to find an interested team along with a number of other undrafted former [Nebraska] Huskers. Only there was this little deal with the Dallas Cowboys and a potential free-agent agreement.

"My agent called me and I said, 'Go ahead with it if the contract is good,'" said Purify, the former Nebraska receiver. Purify could live with going to Dallas. Maybe this was meant to be. "We had something set right after the draft with the Cowboys and it fell through," Purify said Monday. "I guess they had a mixup in their organization and didn't know that they had signed a receiver from Stanford."

Mark Bradford got a ticket to Dallas and Purify another restless night.

Peter Schrager from FOX Sports. 

I had Georgia Tech DE Darrell Robertson going 57th overall in the second round. Robertson was not drafted.         

The myth is that it’s better to be an UDFA than to get drafted in the late rounds. Pat Jones, a former NFL assistant, says the reality is that it’s not, drafted players are treated better. Unless you’re a priority free agent like new Dallas cowboy FB Julius Crosslin. 

There are different levels of free agents. A "priority free agent" like Oklahoma State fullback Julius Crosslin, who signed with the Dallas Cowboys an hour after the draft ended on Sunday, has an advantage over other free agents.

"Unless you're a very high-rated free agent, someone you had a fifth- or sixth-round grade, they're just bringing you in to be a body for training camp," Jones said.

A short introduction  to new UDFA Andrew Brecher of Harvard.  

Harvard offensive tackle Andrew Brecher of Needham agreed to a free agent deal with the Dallas Cowboys. The 6-foot-5, 300-pound Brecher was an all-Ivy League and all-New England selection in 2007, and was named an FCS All-American by the Sports Network after leading the Crimson to the Ivy League title.

Ah, Draft Day. It’s here. I hope you guys will be spending your day in front of the TV and chatting here on BTB.

This is the first of many open threads for the weekend. Feel free to chat it up and throw out any ideas or tidbits you pick up from around the Net.

Here are few nuggets to start the morning:

Last night’s trade of Akin Ayodele and Anthony Fasano for the Dolphins 4^th-round picked saved the Cowboys around $650,000 against the cap. Not bad, but hardly a significant salary cap dump. Ayodele wasn’t in the plans anymore after the signing of Zach Thomas. Fasano was the surprise although I wasn’t exactly enamored with his play. He hadn’t produced in the passing game and his blocking was merely OK. But with only star of stage and screen Tony Curtis backing up Jason Witten, could the Cowboys be eyeing another TE somewhere in the draft?

By the way, the Cowboys picks are #22, #28, #61, #92, #100, #163, #167 and #235.

Word is the Cowboys have reached new contract terms with Pacman on a 4-year deal. But the hold up in officially completing the trade stems from a physical AND the NFL players union might object to Pacman giving up a $1.25 million performance bonus he earned with the Titans.

Some final mock drafts:

Todd McShay – Felix Jones, Brandon Flowers

Mel Kiper – Felix Jones, James Hardy

Rick Gosselin – Felix Jones, Brandon Flowers

NFL Draft Cowntdown - DRC, Felix Jones

Don Banks – Felix Jones, Mike Jenkins

This is an open thread, chat it up!

Wow, a little bit of a stunner. According to the DMN blog:

Dallas has traded linebacker Akin Ayodele and tight end Anthony Fasano to the Miami Dolphins for a fourth-round pick in the draft.

We knew they wanted to get rid of Akin Ayodele and Anothony Fasano was Parcells' guy. But only a 4th-rounder for both? It's almost a 3rd-rounder considering where the Dolphins pick but I didn't think we'd give up two players for the pick. Ayodele needed to be traded to thin out the ILB position.

What do you guys think?