If linebacker Rolando McClain chooses to resume his career, he will do it with the Dallas Cowboys.
The Ravens traded the rights of the 24-year-old linebacker to Dallas, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. The Cowboys reportedly gave up a 2015 sixth-round pick in exchange for McClain plus a Ravens' seventh-rounder.
The sixth-rounder makes up for the pick the Ravens traded during last May's draft to select wide receiver Michael Campanaro.Â
Does this mean McClain will come out of retirement for the second time this offseason?
According to NFL transactions, the Cowboys reinstated McClain from the reserve/retired list. His agent, Pat Dye, told multiple reporters that the former Butkus Award winner plans on playing this season.
The Ravens held McClain's rights for just over a year, but he never played in any games for Baltimore. He retired before the 2013 season following an arrest in his hometown of Decatur, Ala., just 10 days after singing with the Ravens. He attempted a brief comeback in April, but McClain failed his conditioning test and again chose to walk away from the game.
"I gotta follow my heart," McClain told ESPN's Seth Wickersham at the time. "It ain't football. If football made me complete I would play. But whenever I think of it my heart pulls me away from whatever reason. ... This means I'm done."
The Cowboys are in need of help at the linebacker position after a season-ending injury to Sean Lee. While McClain hasn't played in a game since 2012, he still has potential if committed.
He is a former first-round pick and recorded 246 tackles and 6.5 sacks in three seasons with the Oakland Raiders.
