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Since entering the NFL in 2005, Pacman Jones has been questioned by police in 12 incidents in Georgia, Tennessee and Nevada.
IRVING, Texas (AP) -- The complicated deal to get Adam "Pacman" Jones to the Dallas Cowboys was finished Saturday night. Now it's up to the suspended cornerback to make the most of the last chance he's getting from Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas gave the Tennessee Titans a fourth-round pick in this year's draft and a sixth-rounder next year. The Cowboys would get back a fourth-rounder in 2009 if Pacman isn't reinstated, or a fifth-rounder if he returns then gets punished again. Pacman also is getting a new contract.
The teams submitted all the paperwork to the league office late Saturday, with formal approval expected Sunday. The Cowboys are braced for the players association to quibble over the contract, but Jerry Jones emphatically said that can't block the trade.
The bigger issue is whether Pacman will ever make it onto the field for the Cowboys. Even Jerry Jones isn't sure it'll happen -- yet the chance he might, and that he might play really well, was good enough for the team owner to absorb the public-relations hit that comes with acquiring a guy known more for arrests than interceptions.
"To say I'm totally convinced [it will work out], no, I don't know that," Jerry Jones said. "I don't know that at all. But I do know enough to do what we're doing. And I feel positive enough that it's worth that."
The deal was agreed to in principle Wednesday. Then came all a convoluted series of talks between both teams, Pacman, the league and the union, a back-and-forth, forth-and-back series that team vice president Stephen Jones called the most complicated in his nearly 20 years in the league.
"Trading a suspended player is precendent-setting," Jerry Jones said.
For the Titans, the Pacman saga has lasted much longer. And, now, it's all over.
"We can't change the past," Tennessee coach Jeff Fisher said. "All we can do is move forward, and today as an organization, we moved forward."
While the Cowboys are hoping for the best with Jones, they're only trusting him so much. Jerry Jones hedged his bet by spending two first-round picks on guys who do the same things Pacman does best, taking a running back who is a gifted kick returner (Felix Jones) and a cornerback (Mike Jenkins).
Like the video-game character, Adam Jones has dazzling speed and elusiveness. He was the top defensive player taken in the 2005 draft and was even better in '06, his second season.
He never made it back for a third because NFL commissioner Roger Goodell suspended him for repeatedly violating the league's personal conduct rules. He's been arrested six times and has been involved in 12 incidents requiring police intervention. Not all are settled, either, which is part of the reason his status is in limbo.
Jerry Jones said the Cowboys will try getting Pacman reinstated, or at least allowed to work out at their facility. Last season, Goodell allowed Tank Johnson to practice with the team before his suspension was lifted.
"There's always a chance," Jones said. "I'm real clear with Roger and Roger is noncommittal to just exactly what his time or his ability to be here is going to be. But I feel good that we've got a chance to get [Pacman] here in some manner, strength and conditioning. We have a chance to do that provided nothing negative happens from this point forward."
Dallas signed Johnson during his punishment for the exact same reasons the club went after Pacman: He fills a need and he could be had for less than his talent is worth.
"I think it's the circumstance, it's the person, it's what at risk -- all of those are there," Jerry Jones said. "I'm not trying to sound like some preacher here, but I have always been one that just because a person has made some bad decisions, do not close your eyes and ears and decision-making to giving them an opportunity."
The club owner said he's fully aware how divisive this move is among his fans. He chalked that up as a cost of doing business, saying simply, "The risk-reward needs to be done."
"I am paid around here and my job is to try and look for more value than is there, if it's there, than we see on the face of it. With it comes some risk," Jones said. "I heard somebody ask the question, `How good do you feel about Adam's future?' I feel good enough to take some of the risk and do some of the things and invest some of everything we talked about to do it. I feel that good about it. If I didn't, we wouldn't be doing it."
