Cowboys’ Rolando McClain fined for substance-abuse violation

Dallas Cowboys linebacker Rolando McClain’s bid to capitalize on his comeback season in free agency hit a snag when he was notified by the NFL on Saturday he will be fined four game checks for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy.

A source confirmed that McClain will appeal the fine.

McClain finished second on the Cowboys with 108 tackles in 2014 and led the team with 12 tackles for loss.

The Cowboys met Saturday with McClain and his agent, Pat Dye Jr., regarding a contract extension. He also is expected to draw interest on the open market when free agency begins March 7.

But the fine, coupled with McClain’s washout in Oakland after being drafted eighth overall by the Raiders in 2010, could negatively affect his opportunities in free agency.

According to the league’s substance-abuse policy, a player is fined after failing three tests. The next step is a four-game suspension.

So McClain is not expected to miss any games next year if he stays clean.

McClain joined the Cowboys last July in a trade with the Baltimore Ravens, who signed him in 2013. The Cowboys’ hope, should they re-sign McClain, is to plug him in at middle linebacker in 2015 and slide Sean Lee, who missed all of last season with a knee injury, to the weak side.

McClain’s situation puts a bigger premium on the Cowboys re-signing Justin Durant. Durant, also a free agent, has the versatility to play all three linebacker positions. He played well in six games last season, starting at weak-side and middle linebacker before being sidelined for the season with a torn right biceps.

Backup QB options

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has no concerns about the team’s future with quarterback Tony Romo, who turns 35 in April and underwent back surgery after the 2012 and 2013 seasons.

Romo is coming off the best season of his career and will have a full off-season for the first time in two years. Jones said he feels good about Romo being the Cowboys starter for another three to five seasons.

“Well, if I could discount the injury, which you can’t, that comes with careers that last into the 30s, I certainly do from a skill standpoint feel good about where we are because of him at quarterback,” Jones said. “I feel very comfortable ... with a five-year time frame. I feel very comfortable with that. When I say comfortable: I’m ready to make decisions based on him being our quarterback that far into the future. That’s what I mean by comfortable.

“I’m not going to look into the crystal ball with you and tell you he’s not going to have down days over the next five years — I can’t do that. But I can tell you I’m comfortable, and I’m going to make decisions based on him being here.”

Jones said the only concern regarding Romo is the play behind him if Romo has to miss games because of injury. Brandon Weeden was the backup in 2014 and was disappointing in his only start — a loss against Arizona.

Jones said the Cowboys must get better at the backup quarterback position, either from within or with a veteran free agent.

“We know that the backup is key,” Jones said. “We played a good team in Arizona. But if we’d been better at backup quarterback, who knows? We might have been able to get that game. Where we messed up relative to backup quarterback, I’ll second guess that.

“On the other hand, you can just go so far with that line of thinking. So when you ask me where we are, what I’m thinking at quarterback, I do think we need to improve what we do if Tony is not in there — and he wouldn’t be in there because of injury.

“We just need to do what we’re paid to do and that is really look at what we’ve got at backup quarterback.”

Edwards following dad

Mario Edwards Jr. followed his father to Florida State. He wouldn’t mind following him to the Cowboys.

The defensive lineman, who has his weight down to 279, projects as a second-round choice. The Cowboys, whose biggest need is defensive linemen, are among the teams he has formally met with at the NFL Scouting Combine.

“Man, that would be nice,” Edwards said of the possibility of going to the Cowboys. “It would be going back home where I grew up in high school [at Denton Ryan]. But I don’t care where I go. I just want to go play.”

Mario Edwards, a sixth-round pick of the Cowboys in 2000, had 47 starts in four seasons at cornerback with Dallas. He also played one season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Mario Edwards Jr. made 89 tackles, including 23 for loss, and eight sacks in three seasons at FSU.

“I like a challenge, so I didn’t look at [following in his father’s footsteps] as pressure or anything like that,” Edwards Jr. said. “I looked at it as a challenge. I stepped up to it and I wanted to do it.”

Speedy backs

TCU running back B.J. Catalon ran a 4.61 in the 40-yard dash Saturday. A&M running back Trey Williams ran a 4.49. Texas running back Malcolm Brown ran a 4.67.

Staff writer Charean Williams contributed to this report.

This story was originally published February 21, 2015 at 9:30 PM with the headline "Cowboys’ Rolando McClain fined for substance-abuse violation."