IRVING, Texas -- Troubled cornerback Adam Jones became a free agent Monday after being released by the Dallas Cowboys.
The Cowboys said last month that they planned to release Jones, but Monday was the first day that NFL teams could make waiver requests.
The NFL gave Jones a six-game suspension after he was involved in an alcohol-related scuffle with a team-provided bodyguard in October at a Dallas hotel.
Jones came to Dallas after being suspended for the entire 2007 season following multiple off-field incidents while with the Tennessee Titans. The Cowboys acquired Jones, a former first-round draft pick, in an April trade, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell cleared the cornerback to play for Dallas at the end of the preseason.
Expected to give the Cowboys a boost on defense and special teams, Jones had 31 tackles and no interceptions in his nine games (six starts). He averaged just 4.5 yards on his 21 punt returns, with a long of 18 yards.
Before coming to Dallas, Jones was arrested six times and involved in 12 instances requiring police intervention after the Titans drafted him in the first round in 2005.
The Cowboys traded for him anyway, despite the 2007 suspension.
But on Oct. 7, Jones got into the incident with the bodyguard and was suspended again. Jones missed a seventh game later in the season with an injury.
Jones, 25, spent part of his time away from football taking part in an alcohol rehabilitation program.
Tennessee received a fourth-round draft pick in the April trade. The Titans also were supposed to get a sixth-rounder next year, but because Jones was suspended again, the Cowboys instead will receive a fifth-round pick this year.
A call placed to Worrick Robinson, Jones' Nashville, Tenn.-based attorney, wasn't immediately returned Monday night.
Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press
