By Josh Ellis
DallasCowboys.com
SAN ANTONIO - Of the Cowboys' three free agent defensive ends, Marcus Spears may have been the one who most wanted to return to the team.
For two years he's wondered whether the feeling was mutual. After the team made little to no effort to work out an extension when his original contract expired in 2009, he played under a restricted free agency tender last year that paid him less than two backups, Stephen Bowen and Jason Hatcher.
But as it happened, Spears returned after all. The six-year starter at defensive end, who finally signed a new five-year, $19.2 million contract last week, was finally able to practice with the team Thursday night following the ratification of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
"I remember saying that it didn't look good," Spears said. "To be honest with you, I might have not been the first guy they wanted to bring back, but it worked out that way, and when I got here the day I agreed to terms, everybody was excited about it and we moved on."
Spears said it was made clear to him by the team that their preference was to keep Bowen. A day after Bowen signed with the division rival Redskins, the Cowboys shifted their attention to Spears.
While ego sometimes seems to drive players' decisions on the open market, Spears took emotion out of his decision-making process, and picked what he believed was the best deal for himself and his family. He now says the lead up to the deal is water under the bridge.
"I can care less," Spears said. "All along this is where I wanted to be, I just didn't know if that would happen, and now that I'm here, I don't have anything to complain about . . . I wasn't trying to pick Stephen (Jones') and Jerry (Jones') brain to see if they wanted me to come back or not. I thought that was something they would sit down and collectively make a decision about, and I would hear them out and see what decision I wanted to make.
"As it turned out, they appreciate and value what I do, and I value the type of guys they are and how they run the organization, and it worked out."
DallasCowboys.com
SAN ANTONIO - Of the Cowboys' three free agent defensive ends, Marcus Spears may have been the one who most wanted to return to the team.
For two years he's wondered whether the feeling was mutual. After the team made little to no effort to work out an extension when his original contract expired in 2009, he played under a restricted free agency tender last year that paid him less than two backups, Stephen Bowen and Jason Hatcher.
But as it happened, Spears returned after all. The six-year starter at defensive end, who finally signed a new five-year, $19.2 million contract last week, was finally able to practice with the team Thursday night following the ratification of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
"I remember saying that it didn't look good," Spears said. "To be honest with you, I might have not been the first guy they wanted to bring back, but it worked out that way, and when I got here the day I agreed to terms, everybody was excited about it and we moved on."
Spears said it was made clear to him by the team that their preference was to keep Bowen. A day after Bowen signed with the division rival Redskins, the Cowboys shifted their attention to Spears.
While ego sometimes seems to drive players' decisions on the open market, Spears took emotion out of his decision-making process, and picked what he believed was the best deal for himself and his family. He now says the lead up to the deal is water under the bridge.
"I can care less," Spears said. "All along this is where I wanted to be, I just didn't know if that would happen, and now that I'm here, I don't have anything to complain about . . . I wasn't trying to pick Stephen (Jones') and Jerry (Jones') brain to see if they wanted me to come back or not. I thought that was something they would sit down and collectively make a decision about, and I would hear them out and see what decision I wanted to make.
"As it turned out, they appreciate and value what I do, and I value the type of guys they are and how they run the organization, and it worked out."