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.

Last season I had some fun by calling T.O. a pod-person. It was kind of in jest but it was kind of serious. When I heard we were signing T.O. a couple of years ago I was very skeptical. I knew he had the talent, I saw what he did in San Francisco and what he did in Philadelphia, but that was on the field. He was already starting to tear apart the team in San Francisco off the field before they jettisoned him. I watched the sideline tantrums, the belittling of Jeff Garcia, and of course, the despicable desecration of the star. At that time I wanted no part of him. Then he ended up in Philly and when he helped them get to the Super Bowl and made a super-human effort to play in that game coming off of the leg injury, it made me ill. Basically, any time Philly succeeds in football it makes me ill. But when the next season rolled around and the old T.O. was back and was ripping apart another team, I giggled in glee. Good, I thought, glad to see the Eagles going down in flames.

Then Jerry Jones decided he was going to bring T.O. to Big D and I thought he’d lost his mind. Sure I salivated at his talent, but dreaded the inevitable blow-up that would crush our team. The first year was a rocky one as T.O. and Tuna never could get together. But last year, once Wade Phillips was brought on board it was like we had a re-born T.O. And that’s when I started the pod-person jokes because it was like an alien presence had invaded his body and created a whole new persona. I was still a little weary; I thought the old T.O. could come back at anytime.

But now, I’m almost convinced that T.O. is a changed person for good. I know I might be jinxing things by saying it, but he really does appear to be a new man. If there was one thing I thought might trigger a repeat of his past was the fact that he’s entering the final year of the three-year contract he originally signed. The words renegotiation, T.O. and Drew Rosenhaus together scare me more than Romo’s singing at a Cubs game. Seriously, if there was to be a meltdown I thought this would be the trigger.

But go to this article or this article and read the comments from the new T.O. Unless his recent stint on Flavor Flav’s new show has turned him into Al Pacino, I don’t think he’s acting. He sounds sincere.

The highlights are he wants to end his career in Dallas and go into the Hall of Fame as a Cowboy. He claims he’ll let the negotiations play out and it won’t be a distraction. He wants to play another 3-5 years if he’s still playing at a high level. He wants everyone to remember that Terry Glenn could be back and that even if Jerry did bring a Roy Williams or Chad Johnson or whoever, he would be just fine with it. He only cares about winning and not individual stats. He wants to get back to the playoffs badly and finish it this time with a Super Bowl victory. He says he helped Tank Johnson fit in when he came on board and will do the same with Pacman. T.O. praises Jerry Jones, Calvin Hill and crew for making the Cowboys a team where everybody can fit in.

Yeah, it does sound too good to be true. But that’s the new T.O., as long as he's not just acting.

A couple of weeks ago I was asked to participate in a mock draft for NBC Sports that was made up entirely of bloggers. I was assigned the #22 pick for the Dallas Cowboys. They’ve finally put that draft up and you can view the results here . 

The Houston Chronicle has a write-up  on Jamaal Charles and has a mention of the Cowboys. 

Among the teams who have shown the most interest are Dallas, Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Tennessee, Baltimore, Detroit and Chicago. Jamaal, who spent last Friday at Valley Ranch with the Cowboys, said he'd love to wind up in Dallas.

"It couldn't be much better than to play high school, college and pro football in the state of Texas," [Charles] said. "My family and friends could come to the games, like they did at Texas. And I'd be going to a good team.

"I had a good visit with Wade Phillips and Jerry Jones. I talked with Wade for a long time. Since he's from Port Neches, it was like I already knew him. One of their scouts told me he was really pushing for me. I think it could be Dallas, Tampa Bay or Tennessee."

Rick Gosselin does a little Q&A  where he says one of the 1^st-round picks wouldn’t be enough to get Roy Williams and insists it will take both. I’m not buying that. He also opines on Jamaal Charles and Felix Jones.

Rick Gosselin: OK, running backs. Darren McFadden is the clear-cut best ball carrier on the board because of his combination of size and speed. Remember, the draft is about measurables. McFadden is 6-1, 211. Charles is 5-11, 200. McFadden is bigger, faster and stronger. There's about a round difference between the two on most NFL draft boards. There's also a fumble concern with Charles. I think the value on the board at 22 will be a running back. Felix Jones is that value because he also is an elite kick returner. If the Cowboys wait on the back until 28, Charles and Chris Johnson could come into play.

USA Today has an article on the Jerry Jones press conference from yesterday.  It seems the debate over Jerry Jones’ draft ability rages not only on this blog, but everywhere.

Last year, Parcells protege Jeff Ireland was the team's scouting director, but he's since followed Parcells to Miami, along with others. The fallout is that Cowboys fans are fearing that Jones will botch this draft, like he did several times in the post-Jimmy Johnson, pre-Parcells years.

Let the debate continue!

How about this as a mock draft? 

22. *CINCINNATI BENGALS (from Cleveland through Dallas): DeSean Jackson, WR, California. Replaces Chad Johnson, traded to Cowboys.

OK, this is obscure , but the Cowboys were brought up in article about 6-4, 274-lb defensive end Kenny Iwebema from Iowa who is expected to be a late-round pick. 

Iwebema said many teams have been in discussions with him, naming six - the Kansas City Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys, Carolina Panthers, Indianapolis Colts, San Francisco 49ers, and Baltimore Ravens

Here’s some more on the recent Pacman news. 

It looks like the entire NFC East - except for the Giants - is looking to grab a veteran WR. According to sources the Redskins made an offer to the Bengals for their talented, but disgruntled receiver Chad Johnson.

The Redskins offered this year's first round pick, No. 21 overall, and a conditional third rounder in 2009 that could escalate to a first rounder if Johnson and the Redskins hit certain performance levels, the sources said.

The Bengals have not only rejected the Redskins, but two other NFC East suitors -- the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles -- have been informed that there has been no change in the team's position that Johnson will not be traded.

That’s seems to at least set the minimum bar for what the Bengals would consider for Johnson. And given his attitude and big contract, I can’t see any teams going above and beyond that offer. It looks like Ocho Cinco will stay where he is unless the Bengals are just driving up the price. My gut tells me that they are serious about not trading him.

 That won’t stop the NFC East though, there’s another wide receiver out there drawing interest. Roy Williams is a guy on the last year of his contract and the Lions have made no effort to sign him to a long-term contract, leading to much speculation about his future. 

In the latest episode, Eagles radio analyst Mike Quick says there will be news on Williams before the week is out. GCobb.com -- a Web site run by former Lions, Eagles and Cowboys linebacker Garry Cobb, now a Philadelphia media personality -- reports "that means the Cowboys, Redskins or the Eagles will probably wind up with the receiver."

 At the Lions’ press conference yesterday, they shook off questions about trading Roy but didn’t give the emphatic "no" that they had previously stated. Maybe something is cooking there and I hope the Cowboys are right in the middle of it. I’ve always said this one was the most likely to happen for the Cowboys.

Jerry Jones will be holding a pre-draft press conference today. That should be interesting. Among other topics I’m sure the Pacman trade will be discussed.

Nick Eatman talks up the talented defensive line prospects in this draft.

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