Yesterday afternoon, I heard that the Dallas Cowboys cut Pacman Jones. I was very mildly surprised, but figured if Pacman kept himself out of handcuffs between now and next season's training camp, that he'd get a chance somewhere else.

After all, he played some serviceable football with the Cowboys. He never got back to the dominant level he played at with Tennessee before the major suspension, but he was good enough that some team out there could use him. And presumably, with steady work, he can get maybe a little closer to the level he used to play at.

And then I heard some wild story from ESPN that Pacman's being accused of arranging to have a man shot. This is a new allegation, even though the incident took place back in 2007. This is not the Vegas incident everyone's heard about a thousand times. Here's the ESPN report.

Now, there are very few things Pacman Jones could be accused of that I wouldn't believe. If someone said this morning that Pacman bit the heads off of every Barbie doll in a Dallas-area Toys 'R Us just to make the little girls of Dallas cry, I'd believe it. If someone told me that Pacman had invented Scientology as a way to con people out of their money, I'd believe that, too.

But I'm not ready to believe this one. Let's go over some things:

"The chief allegation is this, that while on NFL suspension, Jones arranged for a shooting inside that Atlanta-area strip club. He'd arranged to have a man who he exchanged words with inside the club shot at. Nobody was hurt in the shooting. The man Jones is accused of arranging the shooting with, is himself an accused murderer."

Okay. So this happened after the Vegas shooting and after everything else Pacman had been through. On one hand, yeah, it indicates that Pacman might be capable of that sort of thing. On the other hand, it also makes Pacman an easy guy to accuse. And we don't know where this allegation is coming from. If it's the other guy, who is himself an accused murderer ... well, I'm not taking his word for it.

And then there's this:

"We know the NFL knew about the incident in suburban Atlanta back in 2007. It was reported on. It was investigated by the local authorities. Nobody was charged. Jones was questioned. He wasn't charged."

So it happened in 2007, was investigated in 2007, and no one ever charged Pacman with anything ... and we're bringing it up now?

Ostensibly, the "Outside the Lines" people have more information on the subject, but they're going to wait until Sunday to report that. Hey, don't rush yourself, fellas. Feel free to float a story like this now with no real information behind it, and let people go ahead and assume guilt, at least until Sunday when it fits better into ESPN's programming plans.

Related: NFL Criminal Behavior, NFL Media