IRVING, Texas -- The NFL formally approved Tennessee's trade of suspended cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.
"I think for Adam's sake it's a very good first step," Jones' agent Manny Arora said. "We still have to get through the NFL commissioner's office. I think once we do that we can breathe a sigh of relief and get back to playing football."
Jones must still be reinstated by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
Arora declined to discuss the details of the contract Jones signed.
Dallas gave the Titans a fourth-round pick in this year's draft and a sixth-rounder next year for Jones. The Cowboys would get back a fourth-rounder in 2009 if Pacman isn't reinstated, or a fifth-rounder if he returns then gets punished again.
The Titans and Cowboys agreed to terms Saturday, and the teams submitted all the paperwork to the league office late Saturday. The Cowboys are braced for the players association to quibble over the contract, but Jerry Jones said Saturday that can't block the trade.
Tennessee used that fourth-round pick, No. 126 overall, on California receiver Lavelle Hawkins. Told that was the draft pick used to select him, Hawkins said he realizes his name will be linked now to Jones.
"First of all, let me just say thanks to Pacman Jones because if it wasn't for him, I probably wouldn't be a Tennessee Titan so thank you Pacman Jones," Hawkins said.
Goodell suspended Jones last April for repeatedly violating the league's personal conduct rules. He's been arrested six times and has been involved in 12 incidents requiring police intervention.
"Basically, he's been given all the tools by Dallas to succeed," Arora said. "And now it's really just up to us to make it happen."
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
