IRVING – A year ago the Cowboys were unsure if Andre Gurode could be their center, and re-signed him to a one-year deal worth $1.5 million.
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LOUIS DeLUCA / DMN Andre Gurode (65) was a second-round pick in the 2002 NFL Draft. |
On Tuesday, the Cowboys made Gurode one of the highest-paid centers in the NFL when they signed him to a six-year deal worth close to $30 million, including a $10 million signing bonus.
With Gurode scheduled to become a free agent March 2, the Cowboys did not want to risk losing him after seeing him develop into a 17-game starter last season and be added to the Pro Bowl.
"The question of hunger, that's not even a real question," Gurode said. "I want to continue to work and get better. There's a lot of improvement in different areas. I want to get to the point where I can be fullspeed for an entire game."
Gurode is the sixth player the Cowboys have re-signed since last summer to keep off the open market, joining safety Roy Williams ($11 million signing bonus), tight end Jason Witten ($12 million in bonus money), linebacker Bradie James ($8 million signing bonus), quarterback Tony Romo ($2 million signing bonus) and cornerback Aaron Glenn.
After watching those players re-sign with the team, Gurode said, he wondered if his time would ever get here.
"A couple of the guys told me to keep working and eventually it would come," Gurode said.
Since the season ended the Cowboys had been in talks with Gurode's agent, Kennard McGuire, but the pace slowed during the team's coaching search and re-kindled in the last two weeks.
Gurode, who turns 29 on March 6, was a second-round pick in 2002. He split time at center and guard as a rookie before moving to right guard the next two seasons. He returned to center in 2005 and started two games, serving as Al Johnson's backup.
Gurode won the job in training camp and did not miss a start in 2006, despite needing 30 stitches to close several gashes on his forehead suffered when Tennessee defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth stomped on his face.
When Chicago's Olin Kreutz backed out of the Pro Bowl because of injury, Gurode was added, becoming the first Cowboy center to play in the game since Ray Donaldson in 1996.
"It's not baseball, but it does start up the middle," new coach Wade Phillips said. "When you got a quarterback that has a bright future and a center with a bright future, you have a pitcher and a catcher there."
Gurode's signing bonus is the second-most in team history for an offensive lineman, behind the $12.35 million signing bonus Larry Allen received in 2002 and equal to the $10 million Flozell Adams received in 2003.
With Gurode signed, the Cowboys can step up their intensity in retaining right tackle Marc Colombo, kicker Martin Gramatica, defensive end Kenyon Coleman and Pro Bowl punter Mat McBriar, who will be a restricted free agent.
The club has had talks with the agents for those players and could meet face to face at the scouting combine in Indianapolis later this week.
