After receiving little real interest around NFL circles, it appears that former Cowboys and Titans' cornerback/ punt returner/ stripper aficionado Pacman Jones will head to Canada and a one-year contract with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Per SI.com's Jim Trotter, via PFT, Jones has agreed in principle to a deal that would allow him to play the second half of the CFL season (the playoffs in the CFL end in November) with Winnipeg. Basically, unless some NFL team changes its mind quickly--and this seems highly unlikely-- Jones will be in the market for a house in Manitoba soon.
"It'll be a good experience for me to get back in game shape and compete and play football, which I like to do," Jones told Trotter. "I'm real happy for the opportunity that's been given to me. Of course it's disappointing to me to not be playing in the NFL. But things happen and you have to adjust."
Winnipeg's director of player personnel, John Murphy, seems to have gone to the Jerry Jones School of Second (or in this case, third) Chances, which adheres stubbornly to the old addage that no publicity is bad publicity. However, Pacman has shown a penchant for testing this school of thought.
"If I was in the same position in the NFL I might have a lot more reservations," Murphy said in Pro Football Talk's initial report. "But for me it's a win-win. I'm smart enough to know that if I'm looking for somebody who can be a playmaker for the second half of our season, there isn't a better football player who's not in the NFL, at 25 years old, who's ready to play football, is going to play with a chip on his shoulder, and is going to bring some fun and excitement to our team, our locker room, our city, and our league.
"And at the same time it's a business decision as well as football decision," Murphy continued. "From a marketing standpoint, a business standpoint and a football standpoint, I could go to 100 NFL training camps and every preseason game and more people will hear and know about the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the next two weeks -- from the coverage we'll receive -- than in the last 10 years."
Which is probably true; but that's not to say anything of the avenue through which Jones will draw such attention.
(Editor's note: Even if Jones makes an ass of himself in Canada, our neighbors to the north owe us one. Two words: Celine Dion. Thanks a lot guys.)
