Rolando McClain Negotiations Not Good

[WV Cowboy]

I never disagreed with that . Like the player when he's on the field . Problem is getting him there .

Right, you said "he was average at best", .. and that "he doesn't like football and only plays when he feels like it."

Whatever.

 

[Pessimist_cowboy]

Right, you said "he was average at best", .. and that "he doesn't like football and only plays when he feels like it."

Whatever.

I said He was average at best POST thanksgiving. And I'm correct about that .

Yes it's true he doesn't love football . Dudes retired twice already . He's talented and it's his profession but he doesn't love the game. That's should be obvious.

 

[WV Cowboy]

I said He was average at best POST thanksgiving.

Do you think being injured had anything to do with that? Two concussions?

 

[Pessimist_cowboy]

Do you think being injured had anything to do with that? Two concussions?

Did he sustain a concussion on thanksgiving ? If so maybe . But it doesn't matter if you're on the field I expect you to be at your best or at least give full effort. we'll agree to disagree. Like I said I like the players ability . I don't like his baggage and all of his drama. If the guy doesn't want to play ball move on. He's crazy to think we owe him something after this team gave him a third chance.

 

[WV Cowboy]

Did he sustain a concussion on thanksgiving ? If so maybe . But it doesn't matter if you're on the field I expect you to be at your best or at least give full effort. we'll agree to disagree. Like I said I like the players ability . I don't like his baggage and all of his drama. If the guy doesn't want to play ball move on. He's crazy to think we owe him something after this team gave him a third chance.

You're all over the place.

Agree to disagree.

 

[Sportsbabe]

COWBOYS + MCCLAIN: PREPPING FOR A DIVORCE

KD Drummond + FishCowboysHQ.com
Dallas Cowboys lost Sean Lee to an ACL tear on the opening day of OTAs, and that constituted the almost irreplaceable. But along came the gifted Rolando McClain. ... But with McClain came what we at the time noted was something different than a "no-risk'' deal -- because the deal would come with a reliance on someone who might prove unreliable.

And that's what's happening inside Valley Ranch right now, the coaching staff being the driving force in allowing Dallas to divorce itself from one of its best players from the 2014 playoff team.

Sources tell **click-bait**.com that while the team has exchanged contractual concepts with the middle linebacker, the two sides are very much on different pages. And while the Joneses have in recent months been very vocal about wanting to keep McClain (and move Lee to WILL), as time has passed, the ownership has consulted with coaching and personnel ... and those previously high grades have slipped.

“I was on a bad path,” McClain said during the season. “I didn’t deserve to play football, so to (speak). I wasn’t all the way there in the game. So you ain’t going to be the best if you ain’t focused on the job, so I needed to take time to do what was important, get myself right, and I got that right.''

“Now I’m in a great organization, got some great teammates and just happy to play football again.”

What's changed from those stars-aligned days? It starts with the unpredictability and even instability that McClain exhibited from the very start, as he opened camp by being in Alabama for a court date. Now, in fairness to him, he wasted little time impressing coaches and winning the first-team job at middle linebacker -- at which point the team's reliance met Ro's unreliability.

The Cowboys, who traded their 2015 sixth-rounder in exchange for the former first-round draft pick (eighth overall in the 2010 draft), went into this process acknowledging his checkered history. The Cowboys of 2010 ranked him as their No. 7 prospect. ... and here he fell into their laps, Jerry Jones accurately predicting this would be a "steal ... if all the stars aligned.''

Not all the stars aligned.

Remember the Blue-White Scrimmage in Oxnard, when **click-bait** was there as two of McClain's teammates motioned for him to enter the game and he declined. Remember that later it was revealed that he had a mild hamstring problem. ... that was later modified to being an arm injury? And then on Monday, Rolando left the practice field to report to the medical tent and was, according to our sources, given medical clearance to return to the field along with the option to skip the rest of the day out. ... and McClain chose the latter and retired to his dorm room?

That sort of erratic coming-and-going continued during the season. Sometimes it was personal business, sometimes it was injury, sometimes he just took time off from practice to take a lengthy bathroom break. But in the end -- even with a fine season under his belt marred only a bit by finishing the year unable to contribute due to injury -- did they bring into the locker room someone who wants to be there? And someone who they want to pay to continue being there?

McClain was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in 2010 out of Alabama. McClain played for Nick Saban, who had Cowboys coach Jason Garrett on his staff in Miami in the mid-2000's. That connection helped make this happen. But now the Cowboys have first-hand knowledge of what a playmaker he can be -- and how enigmatic he can be, something Oakland learned when he was suspended by the Raiders for the final three games of a season and retired.

**click-bait**.com know that those "retirements'' were at least in part due to his desire to care for his two young children. But we also know that Ro gets himself tangled in oddities on a regular occasion. He was in a legal battle a while back where he was found guilty of third-degree assault, reckless endangerment and discharging a firearm. (McClain pointed a gun at a man and fired it next to his head.) In January of 2013, McClain was arrested again, this time for providing a fake name when he was pulled over for a tint violation. Later that year he joined the Ravens and was arrested again two weeks later, this time for resisting arrest. He retired again shortly thereafter.

What we've said all along: This acquisition wasn't risk-free because what happens if McClain earns the starting position but then flames out or begs out? Our understanding is that Dallas is unwilling to pay much in order to find itself in a similar scenario this year. No, we don't know was Dallas' offer was (if indeed there ever has been a firm proposal). We just know that Lee and Anthony Hitchens are raring to go and that newly-signed Jasper Brinkley, the former first-teamer in Minnesota, might be penciled in as the Dallas MLB starter (with, obviously, Lee at the MIKE and draft options also in play).

Make no mistake: He was the Cowboys' best defender for most of the season, finishing second on the team in tackles with 108, with a sack, nine tackles for loss, five quarterback pressures, two interceptions, five pass deflections and one forced fumble. And most of his defensive teammates felt inspired by his presence. But he missed a quarter of the season due to injuries and we're told he doesn't have coaches going to bat for him now as much as he would like. If you trust the decisions of Will McClay and Rod Marinelli, you're forced to at least try to understand why Dallas will likely divorce a star-caliber player.

To some degree, this is a salary argument. And to some degree, this is a years argument. But most of all, this is a trust problem.

The Cowboys always, on a week-to-week basis, had to wonder if the McClain body was willing. The Cowboys always, on a week-to-week basis, had to wonder if the McClain psyche was willing. The Cowboys don't trust that they know the answers to those questions for 2015 ... so the Cowboys are not themselves willing.

Thank you so much.
Sounds like Rolando. But I do wonder why all these "enigmatic" incidents weren't reported last year as they were happening. Get my divorce lawyer on the line

 

[Sportsbabe]

My guess is he doesn't sign a contract until after TC. Why sign a contract that he feels is under his value and turn around and go through the grind of TC?

Because he needs to get in football shape if he's going to play.
But I understand what you mean about the money.

 

[JackOfNoTrades]

Thank you so much.
Sounds like Rolando. But I do wonder why all these "enigmatic" incidents weren't reported last year as they were happening. Get my divorce lawyer on the line

I guess if we're okay with the baggage Hardy brings, I'm okay with Rolando's too. Guy is a beast and I believe we are worse team and defense w/o him. I'm blindly on the Rolando bandwagon until it's officially broken down!

 

[Sportsbabe]

I guess if we're okay with the baggage Hardy brings, I'm okay with Rolando's too. Guy is a beast and I believe we are worse team and defense w/o him. I'm blindly on the Rolando bandwagon until it's officially broken down!

I'm not OK with women beaters and child abusers.

 

[TwentyOne]

Sometimes i'd love to be a player on this team. Just to get a good feel for all the talk and assumptions that are made from outside people that really dont know anything.

From what i have seen McClain is my kind of player. But what i read confuses me. I dont know what direction i would go with him. I hope our FO knows better.

 

[kevm3]

What in the world is the front office doing? Do they really think we're going to field a decent defense with nothing but draft pics and other teams' backups? The Hardy pickup was nice, but when you let the rest of your defense go, how does that improve? Carter, possibly McClain, Moore, Durant, Selvie, possibly Spencer, and Melton. Bring McClain back, because if Lee goes down again, we're in huge trouble.

 

[mickswag]

I'm going to have to change my avi if he's not re-signed!

 

[Nightman]

I'm going to have to change my avi if he's not re-signed!

 

[JackOfNoTrades]

I'm not OK with women beaters and child abusers.

Me either, hopefully

I'm not OK with women beaters and child abusers.

Same here. ..hopefully he uses this opportunity and contributes some way towards the cause. .....while delivering another 15+ sack season.

 

[dogberry]

If I were Ro, I would find it hard to play four games without being paid for them.

Suspend my pay, suspend my play.

 

[canters]

I think he ends up retiring again, before the end of 2015. He is a rare bird.

 

[Bullflop]

I'll betcha Benardrick Mckinney is looking better to the Dallas front office with each passing day.

 

[Texas_Pete]

Well, this is disappointing to say the least.

 

[Wood]

Are any other teams talking to him?
can just wait him out if need be. Draft a LB if there in the 1st or 2nd.

nobody. McClain is basically saying...nobody else wants me or I would have signed there but I really like it here so can you over-pay for me so I can sort out my mess in life.

 

[Zekeats]

I'll betcha Benardrick Mckinney is looking better to the Dallas front office with each passing day.

What round?