Cowboys to re-sign Rolando McClain to one-year deal

Rolando McClain, a physical presence in the middle of the Cowboys’ defense, is staying with the team.

McClain and the Cowboys have agreed to a one-year contract with a base $3 million salary with another $1 million in incentives, a source confirmed Wednesday. McClain was the team’s biggest free agent left on the market, and an important player for them to retain.

They had competition for him when he visited the New England Patriots earlier this week and received an offer from them, but managed to keep him by increasing their initial offer.

It’s a move that will allow the Cowboys to slide Sean Lee, who missed last season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, to the weakside with Anthony Hitchens as the front-runner to start as strongside linebacker. The Cowboys have added depth to their linebacker corps in case McClain bolted in free agency, such as bringing in Jasper Brinkley and Keith Rivers, but those options weren’t as attractive.

Owner Jerry Jones acknowledged last month at the owner’s meetings that the ideal scenario would be keeping McClain in the middle, and Lee on the weakside in Rod Marinelli’s Tampa 2 scheme. The weakside linebacker is a critical piece in the defense, as it’s the same position Hall of Famer Derrick Brooks had during Tampa Bay’s glory years in the early 2000s.

“The ideal scenario would be to have a player of McClain’s caliber, and that would certainly make it real comfortable to move [Lee] over there,” Jones said. “Sean is the quarterback of the defense and the ideal spot for the quarterback is in the middle. On the other hand, a key player of skill that has the instincts that he has, the key spot is over at weakside linebacker. When you do the 3-technique tackle the way we do it as a gap guy, his complement is a good player at that [weakside] linebacker [spot].”

With McClain and Lee holding down two of the linebacker spots, it’s reasonable to assume Hitchens is the favorite to win the strongside job after a strong rookie season. But Jones wasn’t ready to publicly announce that it was Hitchens’ job to lose, as there are several candidates expected to challenge for it.

Regardless, the story for now is getting McClain back in the fold.

McClain, 25, resurrected his career after flaming out as the eighth overall pick in the 2010 draft by Oakland, retiring twice and sitting out the 2013 season. He finished tied for second in NFL Comeback Player of the Year voting this past season with Eagles wide receiver Jeremy Maclin, as Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski took home the honors.

He was arguably the Cowboys’ best player on defense when he played, being credited by the coaches with the second-most tackles (108) despite not playing in three regular-season games. He also had nine tackles for loss, two interceptions, one sack, five quarterback pressures, one forced fumble and five passes defended.

But he has his fair share of issues as well.

McClain battled injuries constantly in his comeback year, something the Cowboys felt was simply him getting back into game shape. He missed the three games with knee and groin injuries, and then an illness before the regular-season finale at Washington. In the playoffs, McClain’s time was limited because of a concussion.

McClain visited reknowned orthopedic surgeon James Andrews after the season to have his right knee examined, but received good news in that it did not require surgery.

Outside of his injuries, McClain has had off-the-field problems arise. His Alabama home burned down in December with what was ruled an arson, but that investigation is inactive.

McClain also faces a four-game fine for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy. One more failed test would lead to a four-game suspension.

This story was originally published April 1, 2015 at 7:59 AM with the headline "Cowboys to re-sign Rolando McClain to one-year deal."