Talking Pacman Jones; Tony Romo in Vegas

With the draft dominating my time here lately, I haven’t really talked about Pacman Jones and his coming to Dallas. For some of you, that’s probably a good thing. But I just can’t ignore it any longer so let’s discuss. On the field, supposing he actually gets there, the Cowboys have brought in a player who is worth much more than the 4^th-round pick we gave up this year, and the 6^th next. In my estimation Pacman is one of the top CB’s in the league and it all depends on what kind of shape he’s in when he finally arrives as to where and how much he’ll play. Given that the Cowboys traded for him and drafted two other CB’s I think it’s a given that they are looking to replace Anthony Henry or at least move him to reserve status. Another possibility is moving him to safety which the Cowboys brain-trust didn’t exactly rule out in their post-draft press conference. At minimum, if Pacman is any kind of shape he’ll open the season as the nickel CB. If the Cowboys can somehow get the commish to let him workout at Valley Ranch pre-training camp, it’s possible he could open the season as the starter. My best guess though is that he will be the nickel to open the season then eventually slide into the starter role opposite Newman. When I graded the draft I didn’t include Pacman as part of it, but if you do that certainly makes this draft that much better. Of course the big question is whether he will be re-instated and when. The commish didn’t sound at all like it was a sure thing and he is taking into account the recent revelations about the “extortion” money paid by Pacman and said he didn’t know about that previous to the recent news stories. So things are looking very dicey in that respect.

Now that the trade has been finalized and the league has signed off on the contract, the ball falls into the Cowboys court to start the reinstatement process.

[Manny] Arora said he and [Pacman] Jones will meet with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones in the near future to develop a strategy for the player to seek reinstatement from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and perhaps attempt to modify the current terms so that he can work out and interact with his new teammates at the Cowboys' Valley Ranch complex. Arora said he anticipates the Cowboys taking the lead role in that process.

Jerry has a lot of pull in the NFL as one of the most influential owners and he’ll have to put a lot of his credibility on the line with the commish to even try to make this happen. Getting Pacman into Valley Ranch as soon as possible could have a lot to do with how much Pacman plays this year. It could be the difference between starting or playing a reserve role and being utilized as a punt returner.

The good news from my standpoint is that the Cowboys have a new contract with Pacman that is heavy on non-guaranteed money and incentives to keep him on the straight and narrow.

The contract between the Cowboys and Jones includes no signing bonus or other guaranteed money. While the Cowboys and Arora have declined to reveal specific components of the contract, a source told ESPN that the agreement is incentive-based with roster bonuses that financially encourage Jones to refrain from the behavior that has resulted in six arrests. The source also said Jones will have to play at least three seasons in Dallas before he has an opportunity to become one of the top-paid corners in the league.

We’ll all be keeping and eye on this situation through the rest of the offseason. Here’s another article about Pacman coming to Dallas.

I usually don’t go for all the TMZ-style reporting over Tony Romo and his relationship with Jessica Simpson. What he does in his personal life isn’t that interesting to me. But this story is so outlandish I had to post it. It has a lot of fun details about Tony Romo and his recent weekend in Vegas that includes tidbits about other Cowboys. The crazy part though is the report that he lost $2.5 million dollars gambling over the weekend and that Jessica is very upset. I don’t believe that for a minute. I know he just signed a big contract but come on, $2.5 million? Hogwash. So I don’t believe it at all but thought you guys might like reading the article just for kicks.

Hat tip to Deadspin for the link.

Here’s the story about the Eagles suing T.O. for some cash.

Having withdrawal from mock drafts? Don’t worry, here are a couple for 2009!

SI.com

31. Cowboys -- Brian Robiskie, WR, Ohio State -- Receivers Terrell Owens and Terry Glenn are getting old.

ESPN

31. Dallas Cowboys -- Demetrius Byrd, WR, LSU

Wide receiver is the one area Dallas did not address during an otherwise promising 2008 draft. Byrd has a lot to prove as a senior but he certainly has the blend of size and deep speed it takes to emerge as a first-round draft pick.

The debate over Felix Jones and Rashard Mendenhall continues to dominate discussions about the Cowboys draft, in the media in general and on this blog. Here’s another.