IRVING, Texas -- After flirting with the San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks and Chicago Bears, Lance Dunbar has decided to remain with the Dallas Cowboys on a one-year deal.
According to ESPN Insider Adam Caplan, it is worth $1.75 million.
It's a smart move by Dunbar because it's not clear when he will be on the field in 2016.
Dunbar suffered a serious knee injury in Week 4 last year while returning a kickoff against the New Orleans Saints. He suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament, a partially torn medial collateral ligament and a torn patellar tendon
The patellar tendon was repaired in October and then the ACL in December. One type of comeback from those surgeries is difficult enough. Coming back from two will test Dunbar's fortitude. But he's already returned from a major knee injury in 2013.
Dunbar made a wise choice in returning to the Cowboys. Had he signed elsewhere, that team would not have the same background with him in terms of his rehab. The Cowboys' coaches have a sense of what he can do and, to a degree, a loyalty to him.
Now the Cowboys are hoping Dunbar can get back to his early 2015 level and make the chance pay off.
The Cowboys were finally making good on their promise to get Dunbar involved in the offense. He got the Cowboys' game-winning drive going against the New York Giants in the season opener with two catches for 40 yards. He had a career-high 21 catches in four games for 215 yards. He carried five times for 67 yards and had a 45-yard gain against the Saints before the injury.
The team tried to sign Dunbar to a multi-year deal last year, but he chose to play on his restricted free-agent tender, gambling on himself. Early on in the season it looked like a gamble worth taking -- and then came the injury.
The Cowboys and Dunbar are back together on a one-year deal in 2016 and he is gambling he can return, continue the success he had early last season once he gets on the field and have it pay off as an unrestricted free agent in 2017.
Dunbar's return does not preclude the Cowboys from taking a running back early in the draft. After all, he could open the year on the physically unable to perform list.
With Dunbar, the Cowboys now have Darren McFadden, Rod Smith and Ben Malena under contract at tailback.
That's hardly a finished product.
