Terence

Newman

It’s unlikely he’ll earn significant time come the regular season.

The Raiders continue their trend of showing interest in free agents no one else is after. Newman did grade out well as part of the Bengals’ No. 9 pass defense in 2012, but will be 35 in September. Expect a short-term deal if the Raiders pounce.

Both clubs view Newman as veteran depth. Although he was a pleasant surprise as part of the Bengals’ No. 9 pass defense last year, it’s unfair to expect sustained high-quality play at age 35.

41-year-old Newman retired last offseason but stayed on the Minnesota coaching staff. With Mackensie Alexander and Mike Hughes on IR, the Vikings wanted to see if Newman had anything left but him returning was always a long shot. The Vikings promoted CB Nate Meadors to take Alexander’s place.

Newman has been out for more than a month but is finally running laterally and showing good burst on straight-line sprints. The Cowboys will need him with Orlando Scandrick (ankle) sidelined and Mike Jenkins (shoulder, knee) banged up.

Newman hasn’t even practiced since pulling his groin back on August 3. The Cowboys, who are off until Thursday, could certainly use him with Orlando Scandrick (ankle) sidelined.

“I’m a rockhead about some things and I tried to play through it,” he said. “I wanted to be there for my teammates and I ended up probably hurting them.” Newman was so bad we’d like to chalk it up to injury, but he played similarly poorly in 2010. He needs a strong camp to be guaranteed a roster spot.

The main “difference” in Newman’s play was that he got burned even more than he did in 2010. Jones’ comments suggest Dallas might keep Newman if he’s willing to take a pay-cut from his current scheduled salary of $6.016 million, but the odds remain high he’s released. The Cowboys can save $6 million in salary cap space if they designate Newman as a post-June 1 cap casualty.

The oft-injured 33-year-old didn’t stand a chance of seeing his scheduled $6 million salary after being toasted routinely throughout the final two months of the season. The Cowboys will use the cap savings to target free agents Cortland Finnegan and Brandon Carr. Newman may have to take an incentive-laden deal on the open market.

The 33-year-old isn’t known to have visited any teams other than Cincinnati. It’s fair to wonder if he will receive any guaranteed money after getting routinely toasted down the stretch last season. Although he’s a favorite of DC Mike Zimmer, Newman will have to compete with Jason Allen and Pacman Jones for snaps behind Nate Clements and Leon Hall.