Since the Cowboys signed Brandon Carr and drafted Morris Claiborne, there have been healthy debates on what the team should do about Mike Jenkins.
And now there are some reports on how Jenkins is handling the situation. Whether you believe all this or not, let's not forget how easy it seems to be for players to be disgruntled this time of year.
It happens every year at more than a handful of NFL cities every summer. There are players out there who aren't happy about their contract, their role, their place on the depth chart, or probably a combination of several things.
So they hold out of OTAs or even the mini-camp or you might just see a holdout of training camp, if the player is fine with paying the daily fines.
Either way, a holdout is never a real holdout until you start missing game checks. Joey Galloway missed the first 10 weeks of season one time in Seattle. That's a holdout.
Not saying that Mike Jenkins will indeed holdout this season. I'm not even saying that is should be considered a mini-holdout if he's not around for this week's OTA practices. Because of his shoulder injury that needed post-season surgery, Jenkins won't be participating in the drills.
Now, I'm sure the Cowboys' athletic training staff would prefer to have him here rehabbing than somewhere else. But that stuff goes on every year, whether the player is entering a contract season or not.
In the case of Jenkins, who reportedly wants to be traded, it really doesn't matter if he's happy or not. That might sound coldhearted but that's the nature of the business.
Ok, so he might want a trade. Doesn't mean the Cowboys have to do anything. Ultimately, he's the one in a contract season and he needs to play his best to get the type of deal he thinks he deserves – whether it's in Dallas or another team.
Again, Jenkins hasn't said much of anything this offseason. He hasn't been around here much at all and he hasn't held many press conferences. So it's really all speculation whether or not this guy is unhappy with his role, or unhappy with the fact he'll enter the season without a big contract.
All we can go off of is the facts. Jerry Jones said two weeks ago the Cowboys have no intentions of trading Jenkins because depth at cornerback is crucial. Just because you might have depth one minute – it could be gone the next. Just recall the Jets' game in the season opener when Bryan McCann, Alan Ball and Barry Church were the three cornerbacks at one point in the game.
Let's not forget this: Jenkins is a really good cornerback. And he's making $1 million this year. Unless some team offers the Cowboys a first-round pick or even a high-second, why would you want to get rid of a really good player at a key position with such a good contract? No thanks. So it sounds like Jenkins probably won't be going anywhere, whether he's unhappy about it or not.
