Claiborne 'Can't Wait' To Return To Cowboys, Denied 5th Year Option
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IRVING (105.3 THE FAN) - We've written about the fact the the Cowboys never had any intention of picking up the fifth-year option on the injured and under-performing cornerback Mo Claiborne. In fact, we wrote about it immediately after owner Jerry Jones' comical January proclamation that Dallas would indeed pick it up and pay Mo $11.08 million for the 2016 season.
That wasn't going to happen then. It's officially not going to happen now, with the May 3 deadline to do so having passed.
Claiborne, the sixth-overall pick in his draft class four years ago, has struggled on the field and is also coming off a torn patellar tendon that limited him to four games last year. The Cowboys hope he can participate in training camp but coming off recent surgery, there are no guarantees there.
The decision to let Claiborne play out his contract also has nothing to do with this weekend's first-round drafting of Byron Jones, or with the contractual status of the team's other corners. It's smart and obvious business as Claiborne will be paid his $2.607 million this season and hopes to play up to that level.
"I can't wait" to get back on the field, Claiborne told us. "I'm getting better each and every day, getting stronger each and every day. You know, that's all I can ask for at this moment."
"All I can ask for'' includes an inability to ask for $11 million extra dollars. It was never going to happen ... unofficially or officially.
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