Cowboys not ready to roll out Tank Johnson
By Mac Engel
Star-Telegram staff writer
Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones doesn't want to get into the Tank Johnson situation... right now.
He acknowledges why the possibility of the troubled former Chicago Bears defensive lineman signing with the Cowboys is out there: Because he's available, and the Cowboys don't have nose tackle Jason Ferguson.
"The meat on the bone is there because he's a qualified defensive lineman -- we don't have Jason and we've got to check," Jones said, after speaking at a luncheon at the Petroleum Club in Fort Worth.
"That's the only meat there is to that. The only reason I'm sensitive about it, there is no need to show interest there if we don't have it. Right now, there is nothing there."
The Cowboys don't want to say no. They don't want to say yes.
The Cowboys are taking a wait-and-see approach with Johnson, 25, mostly because of the many obstacles surrounding him. But if they do something, they aren't going to wait until Johnson has served his eight-game suspension. He was suspended for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy.
The Cowboys were repeatedly approached by Johnson's representation for nearly a month when the Bears cut the tackle in June after he arrested, but not charged, on suspicion of DUI. The Cowboys never showed any interest.
Now with Ferguson lost for the season, the Cowboys aren't ruling anything out.
"I don't want to say you wouldn't and then turn around and do something," said Jones, who added that this situation is still just speculative.
They want to determine whether they can handle the "character" issue that makes Johnson a serious risk.
There are the off-field issues: He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of having six unregistered firearms in his suburban Chicago home last December. It was a violation of his probation of an earlier gun charge.
Two days after Johnson's house was raided, his body guard was shot and killed in a fight that took place when the bodyguard was with Johnson at a Chicago nightclub. In March, Johnson went to jail for violating his parole.
There is an on-field issue: whether he can be a conventional 3-4 nose tackle. Listed at 6-foot-3, 300 pounds, he is still undersized for the spot. He played as a 4-3 defensive tackle with the Bears, and he's never played nose tackle.
He is, however, talented. A second-round pick of the Bears in 2004, he had 63 tackles, four passes broken up, nine sacks and one forced fumble in 46 games.
Star-Telegram staff writer
Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones doesn't want to get into the Tank Johnson situation... right now.
He acknowledges why the possibility of the troubled former Chicago Bears defensive lineman signing with the Cowboys is out there: Because he's available, and the Cowboys don't have nose tackle Jason Ferguson.
"The meat on the bone is there because he's a qualified defensive lineman -- we don't have Jason and we've got to check," Jones said, after speaking at a luncheon at the Petroleum Club in Fort Worth.
"That's the only meat there is to that. The only reason I'm sensitive about it, there is no need to show interest there if we don't have it. Right now, there is nothing there."
The Cowboys don't want to say no. They don't want to say yes.
The Cowboys are taking a wait-and-see approach with Johnson, 25, mostly because of the many obstacles surrounding him. But if they do something, they aren't going to wait until Johnson has served his eight-game suspension. He was suspended for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy.
The Cowboys were repeatedly approached by Johnson's representation for nearly a month when the Bears cut the tackle in June after he arrested, but not charged, on suspicion of DUI. The Cowboys never showed any interest.
Now with Ferguson lost for the season, the Cowboys aren't ruling anything out.
"I don't want to say you wouldn't and then turn around and do something," said Jones, who added that this situation is still just speculative.
They want to determine whether they can handle the "character" issue that makes Johnson a serious risk.
There are the off-field issues: He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of having six unregistered firearms in his suburban Chicago home last December. It was a violation of his probation of an earlier gun charge.
Two days after Johnson's house was raided, his body guard was shot and killed in a fight that took place when the bodyguard was with Johnson at a Chicago nightclub. In March, Johnson went to jail for violating his parole.
There is an on-field issue: whether he can be a conventional 3-4 nose tackle. Listed at 6-foot-3, 300 pounds, he is still undersized for the spot. He played as a 4-3 defensive tackle with the Bears, and he's never played nose tackle.
He is, however, talented. A second-round pick of the Bears in 2004, he had 63 tackles, four passes broken up, nine sacks and one forced fumble in 46 games.
posted by The Gryphon at 10:12 AM
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