Pacman confusion

So, there seems to be some amount of confusion over whether the Cowboys were opening themselves up to tampering charges if they toured the new stadium with Pacman Jones after his Michael Irvin Show appearance. It all stems from an NFL Network report that Pacman did tour the stadium with Cowboys officials.

Following up that piece, Todd Archer posted this nugget on the DMN blog after he talked to the Cowboys organization.

Checked it out with people who should know and was told it was false. If Pacman took a tour, then the Cowboys would have tampered with a player under contract with another team. They do not have permission from the Titans to talk with Jones.

So that set off the confusion of whether Pacman has been granted permission for a trade and whether it could have been tampering if the tour even happened. As far as we know, it didn’t. But, just for clarification on his trade status I did a little research and found this story from a Nashville paper on February, 27th.

Suspended cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones has been given permission by the Tennessee Titans to pursue a trade, The City Paper has learned.

A league source from one team Jones’ representatives approached at the NFL Combine last weekend confirmed that they had been asked about their interest level in acquiring the cornerback.

Sounds pretty airtight, except I couldn’t find confirmation elsewhere. If you know of a confirmation, let us know in the comments. Even Pacman Jones’ own agent wouldn’t confirm it.

Jones’ agent and attorney Manny Arora would not confirm what the source indicated.

"The Titans have publicly stated that they are looking at all their options concerning Adam Jones," Arora said. "If and when the Titans make a final decision, we will test the market on Adam’s behalf."

Earlier this week, I posted a link to another Pacman story that was really supposed to be about the Patriots rumored interest in Pacman. But when I went back to it, I found this comment from Manny Arora.

Arora indicated he knew nothing more than what the rumor mill had been churning out in recent days in terms of the Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions, and yes, the Patriots, being the primary teams showing interest.Jones’ agent said he was displeased by at least one report that incorrectly had him suggesting certain teams were involved in discussions with Tennessee, or interested in his client.

"No team has told us they’re interested. They would deal directly with the Titans. They wouldn’t call us," Arora said. "I don’t know who the Titans are working with. All I’ve heard are the rumors . . . as of this point, nobody has asked us to work out a contract. Nobody has said, ‘we want you to be traded’, nothing like that."

Seems like Arora is saying that all negotiations have to go through the Titans which would indicate that they don’t have permission to seek trades. So my conclusion: I have no idea what’s going on, but since it’s so boring right now out in Cowboy Land, this was the only interesting thing I could think of this afternoon.

While I’m on the case of debunking certain myths, or not debunking but just further confusing them, there have been some still claiming that Pacman can’t be traded until he is reinstated. Not true, according to the NFL.

"A suspended player can be traded like any other player under contract. (The team is trading the contract, in essence.) The trading period for this year begins on Friday," league spokesman Greg Aiello said in an e-mail.

But now, today, Jeff Fisher says that they have given Team Pacman permission to seek a trade.

"We've given them permission to look for a new home and whatever happens after that happens," Fisher told The Tennessean. "He's entitled to his opinion. I know he has enjoyed the time that he has spent here on the football field. But because of his choices and such off the field, he's created a situation where he's going to have to look elsewhere."

Fisher told the newspaper no when asked if that meant the Titans were officially finished with Jones.

"All we can do is move forward and if we're able to put something together that we think is good, then we'll just wait on the commissioner's decision," Fisher told The Tennessean. "It's a peculiar situation, one that's a result of [Jones'] personal choices, and it's really just in the commissioner's hands."

Meanwhile, Matt Mosley says team officials also confirmed to him the Cowboys haven’t decided to add a player to the trade. But Bucky Brooks seems to be standing by his story that they have, so who knows. Even ESPN is posting stories about it using the SI.com source.

So, things should be as clear as mud after reading my post.