Jenkins reportedly wants a trade but it sounds like he’ll show up for mini-camp. (US PRESSWIRE)

Cowboys cornerback Mike Jenkins hasn’t been shy about detailing his desire to be traded away from Dallas before the start of the 2012 season. He skipped voluntary OTAs, and clearly he wasn’t happy about Dallas’ huge Brandon Carr free agent signing and the fact it traded up in the first round of the draft to nab Morris Claiborne.

And it sounds like there’s been some interest, especially from the Colts -- who apparently have contacted Dallas multiple times to discuss a swap.

All of which makes a mini-camp holdout that extends into training camp all the more likely. Except that NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport writes that it’s expected that Jenkins actually WILL attend this week’s mandatory mini-camp.

Um, what?

As Rapoport writes, “He likely won’t participate because of a shoulder injury, but he’ll be there. I’m not sure I understand why. If you’re gonna hold out and force a trade, do it. That’s your leverage. If he’s going to be part of the team, then be that. Re-join the team, all-in and everything.”

Maybe this is the only path Jenkins feels he can take, especially since the Cowboys have made their decision on him quite clear.

As for the Cowboys acquiescing to Jenkins and trading him, don’t count on it. In part, that’s because Jenkins is still young and still talented, and perhaps even more importantly, he’s cheap (he’s set to make a base salary of $1.052 million).

"We know that we've got a situation where we can identify what we are on defense by having three corners in there a lot I see short-term and long-term with Jenkins," owner Jerry Jones said last month. "We've also got (Orlando) Scandrick, we got some room if somebody gets nicked not to have to adjust. We can come out there and spend some time really utilizing where we are at corner. The decision to bring Claiborne in was a big part of that. There's no interest on my part at all of trading Jenkins. None." 

And as coach Jason Garrett said a few days after that: "Mike Jenkins, we believe, is a big part of our football team right now. He's making a business decision not to be here. But we're not going to trade him. We like Mike Jenkins, we expect him to be a part of our team. We want to get him healthy, gotta get him back."

Perhaps now, Jenkins feels his best business decision is to show up when he’s contracted to be there. Play well in 2012 and then see if he can get out of Dallas by next offseason.

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