Linebacker Bradie James signed a contract with the Cowboys on Tuesday, but it won’t bring him back to the team for the 2014 season.
James signed a one-day deal in order to retire as a member of the team that drafted him in the fourth round of the 2003 draft. James went on to play 142 of 144 games for the Cowboys over the next nine seasons. According to a release from the team, James compiled 1,009 tackles as a member of the team to make him the sixth player to make at least 1,000 stops in a Dallas uniform. James also had 15.5 sacks and 11 forced fumbles during his Cowboys career.
James moved on to the Texans for the 2012 season, where he played for former Cowboys coach Wade Phillips, and started 15 games.
James didn’t play at all last season and there wasn’t any talk of a return for the 2014 season floating around, so the news of his retirement doesn’t really come out of left field.