Jones, Cowboys gobble up Pacman

A fourth-round draft pick must be the going rate for National Football League malcontents these days.
That's the price that the New England Patriots paid to take Randy Moss off the Oakland Raiders' hands before the 2007 NFL Draft. The move worked out pretty well if you consider Moss' league-record 23 touchdowns and his role in New England's record-setting offense. 
I guess Dallas is trying the same thing with its defense and special teams this year, but the Cowboys' trade for Pacman Jones seems more like madness than genius disguised as madness.
Moss' status as an NFL player wasn't in doubt. He wasn't suspended the previous season for his role in almost a dozen incidents like Jones was last year. Moss' talent was never in doubt, while Jones still remains a largely untested 5-foot-9 cornerback who can be overpowered by big, physical receivers. Is Jerry Jones really desperate to get back to the Cowboys' salad days during the 1990s that included three Super Bowl rings, drug-filled parties in The White House and a string of player arrests for solicitation and disorderly conduct?
Pacman could certainly fit a judge's recent description of Cincinnati wide receiver Chris Henry as a "one-man crime wave." He's been arrested six times and questioned by police in a dozen brushes with the law since he was drafted by the Titans in 2005, compiling an impressive sheet of violations that includes assault, disorderly conduct, public intoxication, obstruction of justice, possession of marijuana, and felony coercion, a charge that stemmed from his role in a shooting at a Las Vegas strip club in 2007.
Ah yes, Pacman's weekend in Vegas. What happened at Minxx didn't stay at Minxx. It left Tommy Urbanski, a bouncer at the club, paralyzed from the waist down and two others wounded in a shooting that had its roots in a fight started by Pacman and his entourage. Pacman rolled into the club with a garbage bag full of money to 'make it rain', wanting to shower the dancers with stacks of dollar bills. The trouble started when Pacman asked for his money back and allegedly slammed a stripper's head into the stage when she tried to take it, fueling the melee that ensued. The night ended up costing Pacman $15,000 in extortion cash that he allegedly paid to one of the members of his crew. Pacman said that he and his family were threatened by the man, Arvin Kenti Edwards, who is now charged with three counts of attempted murder and three counts of battery with substantial harm, a six-pack of felonies -- nice friends to be keeping.
Dallas is undeterred by this. They've won with felons before, but those felons, like Erik Williams, Nate Newton and Michael Irvin, were all Hall of Fame-caliber players. Pacman returns punts and kicks very well, using his speed in the open field, but his coverage skills have always been a question mark. Never mind any of that -- Pacman still needs league approval from commissioner Roger Goddell to return to the field, not a guarantee if he was to get in trouble again. The Cowboys are willing to shell out two fourth-round picks and a four-year contract with no guaranteed money to take the chance.
Yes, Dallas could cut Pacman with no penalty if things don't work out. The only thing taking a hit would be Dallas' image, one that's just about recovered from the old days when Williams, Newton and Irvin roamed Valley Ranch. The Cowboys are about to open their new stadium in 2009 -- will they need to add a jail cell next to the locker room?