Dallas Cowboys release Adam 'Pacman' Jones

Try as he might to keep Adam "Pacman" Jones on the roster, on Wednesday Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones cut the talented cornerback who might wind up as a case study for wasted potential.

"It was unexpected. It was a surprise," said Pacman Jones' agent, Worrick Robinson. The transaction won't officially happen until Feb. 9 when NFL teams can make waiver requests.

"Adam knows that it's a business and that the Cowboys are making business decisions and that this sort of news is part of it. … And he's hoping that perhaps there might be another opportunity there for him in the future whether it is the next year or the next two years."

That scenario appears highly unlikely.

On Wednesday, ESPN informed the Cowboys and the NFL that it plans to air a piece for its "Outside the Lines" program that included never-before-seen footage of Pacman Jones' involvement in another 2007 night club shooting when he was still with the Tennessee Titans. This particular incident occurred in a suburban Atlanta strip club.

A source confirmed that when the Cowboys learned of this report by ESPN, the team made the decision to cut Jones, who is now under league investigation and might have seen his NFL career end as a result. The ESPN report reportedly includes security-camera footage and allegations that Pacman Jones ordered a gang member to carry out a shooting.

At the time of this particular incident he was already under a one-year suspension by the NFL for being involved in a Las Vegas shooting earlier that year.

Even though this Atlanta incident occurred in 2007, it's new to the NFL, which back in October made it clear to Pacman Jones that one more piece of bad news would result in a lifetime ban from the league.

Robinson said his client intends to continue to live in the D/FW area as well as work out here in hopes that a team will give him a chance.

"At this point he's trying to maintain his career and maintain his profession," Robinson said.

Robinson did not speak to the ESPN report. When asked if the Cowboys decision had anything to do with Pacman Jones' off-the-field troubles, Robinson said no.

The decision to cut Pacman Jones ends his stay with the Cowboys the way many in the NFL predicted, and those inside the Cowboys' front offices feared - poorly.

The Cowboys acquired Jones last April from the Titans for a fourth-round draft pick. In the months and weeks leading up to the trade, Jerry Jones floated the idea of acquiring Pacman Jones to players and members of his staff. A few players shrugged their shoulders and said sure, but most people were skeptical.

After a public relations campaign that included an announcement to drop "Pacman" as his name, he made visible stops at inner-city youth clubs, provided free furniture to a Fort Worth family in need as well as saying all the right things about he was a changed man, Jones was fully reinstated by the league on Aug. 28.

But Pacman soon returned.

Jerry Jones hired a security staff of four to basically escort Pacman around, to protect Pacman from Pacman.

But other than defensive lineman Tank Johnson, Pacman Jones never seemed to fit in the locker room. He had a tendency to be either late or doze in team meetings. When he was on the field, the results were sporadic at best. While talented and showing skills in man coverage, he never intercepted a pass, and averaged just 4.5 yards on 21 punt returns. The team credits Jones with 33 tackles and he led the team with 13 pass deflections.

His on-the-field production was limited when he was involved in a fight with his girlfriend as well as a member of his own security team at a Dallas hotel on Oct. 7. Jones was later suspended by the NFL and missed six games. He missed another game after he was reinstated when he suffered a neck injury.

The Pacman Jones experiment roughly costs the Cowboys $1.35 million. Because the NFL suspended Jones, the Cowboys will receive the Titans' fifth-round pick, and gain $1 million in salary cap space in 2009.