Eddie George might be joining the Cowboys.

A day after being released by the Titans, Eddie George has worked out a deal to return to Texas.The Dallas Cowboys and George agreed on a one-year contract Friday, reports ESPN's Ed Werder. The base salary is $660,000 with a signing bonus of $1.54 million. With incentives, the deal is worth up to $3 million.The Cowboys have scheduled a news conference for 1 p.m. ET.George and his agent, Lamont Smith, had a meeting with Dallas owner Jerry Jones and other team officials Friday at the Cowboys' Valley Ranch headquarters.
George, who has spent his entire eight-year career with the Titans (starting in 1996, when they were the Houston Oilers), has made signing with the Cowboys his priority. He has declined offers to make visits to other interested teams until he met with Cowboys officials.And that's no coincidence, Smith said."It's an indication of his priority," Smith told The Associated Press on Thursday. "It's high on his list, very high on his list."Smith said it didn't matter who made the first call, but both sides were very interested in consummating a deal quickly. "We'll have to see if it will," Smith said.The development comes a day after Dallas sources told Werder that the team had only modest interest in George. According to sources, Jones has maintained interest in signing George since it became apparent he might be released, but coach Bill Parcells and others were reluctant, fearing George's presence would interfere with the development of rookie running back Julius Jones, the team's top draft choice.Parcells had been planning to use a rotation system in which Jones would probably play the majority of the time with fullback Richie Anderson playing halfback in third-down passing situations. The acquisition of George would reduce the pressure on the Cowboys to have Jones ready to be the primary ballcarrier when the season opens. George has never missed a game during his career and will set a positive example for Jones in terms of work ethic, preparation and practice habits.George, who turns 31 this season, rejected the Titans' attempts to reduce his contract this season to $1.5 million. George was willing to accept a reduced contract but wanted at least $2.5 million and security beyond the 2004 season."How do we replace [George]? Well, we're going to have to replace him with more than one guy," Reese said. "It's going to be impossible to find one guy to do all the things Eddie did."That process began Thursday, when Tennessee agreed to a one-year deal with free agent running back Antowain Smith.

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