Rolando McClain Conditionally Reinstated, Cowboys Expected To Release Him

Pro Football Talk is reporting that the NFL has conditionally reinstated veteran LB Rolando McClain on Friday. 

According to Charean Williams, the Cowboys still hold the rights to McClain, who is on the reserve/suspended list. However, Williams reports that Dallas is expected to cut him once they get official notice from the NFL.

McClain told Matt Zentiz of Al.com back in July that he was looking to make a comeback and return to the NFL after sitting out the past few years.

McClain is hoping to join an NFL team for training camp and is now healthy after dealing with a hip issue that required surgery back in 2016.

“Every time I got in my linebacker position, it was bone on bone grind,” McClain said. “Not only do I feel good, I’m recovered and I’m rested. I feel better now because I know I’ll be playing with two legs.”

“I’m nowhere near satisfied with how my professional career has gone,” McClain added. “That’s for myself. That’s me looking in the mirror and talking to my boys. Nah, that’s not the taste I want to leave in my mouth.”

McClain, 29, is a former first-round pick of the Raiders back in 2010. He spent three years in Oakland before taking a year off and later signing with the Ravens.

Baltimore traded McClain to the Cowboys in 2014, and Dallas elected to bring him back on a one-year, $5 million contract back in 2016. He was later placed on the reserve/did-not-report list.

McClain was then suspended indefinitely without pay for violating the NFL Policy and Program for Substances of Abuse.

For his career, McClain has recorded 405 tackles, 9.5 sacks, four interceptions, two forced fumbles, a defensive touchdown and 25 pass defenses over the course five seasons and 65 games played.