Cowboys’ Mincey in camp after brief holdout over contract

OXNARD, Calif. – When the Dallas Cowboys take to the field today for practice, defensive end Jeremy Mincey will be there. When he didn’t get it by the start of camp on Wednesday, he began a holdout that resulted in COO Stephen Jones announcing that Mincey would face daily fines of up to $30,000 and would not be acknowledged in negotiations without reporting.

Mincey engaged in a four-day holdout at the start of training camp and the Cowboys indicated that they weren’t willing to give into his contract demands.

The team’s bag coordinator last time made ready a brief offer and done anything about the edge Sunday at practice after omitted the earliest a few days of camp, also the first padded or carpeted practice.

Mincey is scheduled to make $1.5 million this season within the remaining yr of a two-year deal value $three million. Mincey missed out on a $500,000 bonus last year by less than 1 percent of play time and is set to be the 70th highest paid defensive end. “And Jeremy has done a nice job for us since he’s been with us. But we’re excited to have him here at training camp”. “We want him to be here and he can be a big part of this team”. I’m just glad I’m here now and it’s all over. “I was willing to take the backlash and ridicule”.

“I mean, if I come out here and fight for my teammates, it’s a no-brainer for me to fight for my family”.

The 2014 campaign was his best season since 2011 with the Jaguars, when he recorded eight sacks.

Since Mincey is 31 and is presumably looking for more money this season after being one of the Cowboys stars on defense last season, I think it’s safe to say that the discussions of a two-year deal will be for both the 2015 and 2016 seasons.

Mincey’s role is more of a question this season because the Cowboys picked defensive ends in the second round of the past two drafts and signed an established pass rusher in Greg Hardy in free agency. We played hard. We played tough. We played hard. We played tough.

Hardy and DeMarcus Lawrence, the second-round pick in 2014, have been running with the first team in early camp practices. “I think Mince was a big part of that, establishing that identity, that toughness, that relentlessness”. You could argue that Randy Gregory won’t have a strong rookie season- particularly since he’s a better fit as a 3-4 outside linebacker as of right now- but the rookie with huge physical gifts is another source of competition for Mincey.