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The signing of starting right tackle Marc Colombo to a two-year deal worth $7 million on Friday gives the Cowboys some flexibility.

With the deal and the signing of Leonard Davis, who can play guard and tackle, earlier this week, Dallas six possible starters on the offensive line.

Also, the Cowboys don't have to make a decision yet on right guard Marco Rivera, who suffered a herniated disk in the playoff loss at Seattle. He has undergone surgery for the same injury twice in the last three seasons.

It's doubtful that Rivera could return. Former Cowboys' safety Darren Woodson retired after a second surgery for a herniated disk.

Owner/general manager Jerry Jones said the team is going to allow Rivera to make the decision himself on whether he can play in 2007.

"It's something we will look at down the road," Jones said on a conference call with reporters. "There's no move to make. He can't pass a physical right now, and we're not under any cap pressure here to make a decision."

The signings of Colombo and Davis this week keep the Cowboys from having to find another lineman through free agency or promoting one of their young linemen to their starting lineup.

It also assures that Davis would take Rivera's place at right guard should Rivera depart.

"We're all aware of the issue of his back surgery," Jones said. "It's something again, this signing, in our own way allows us the flexibility to be pretty patient here with Rivera."

Dallas' offensive line, once considered a question mark has developed nicely.

Despite nagging injuries to several players no offensive linemen missed a game because of injury.

To keep the line intact, Jones had to re-sign two players. The first was center Andre Gurode, who won the starting job in training camp over Al Johnson. Last month, Gurode signed a six-year contract worth nearly $30 million with a $10 million signing bonus.

Colombo was next but he wanted a long-term deal and something similar financially to Gurode's and some other linemen such as Derrick Dockery who signed a seven-year $49 million free agent deal with Buffalo.

Instead Colombo received a deal that resembles New Orleans' tackle Jon Stinchcomb who signed a two-year $7 million contract.

"They wanted to look and see what other players were doing," Jones said of Colombo and his reps. "Every contract should be unique to some degree and Marc's is unique. If things go the way I think they are for Marc, this won't be his last contract."

As Colombo waited, Davis signed a seven-year $49.6 million contract with a team-record $16 million signing bonus. Davis signing gave Dallas some leverage because he can also play right tackle.

Colombo, however, wanted to remain with the Cowboys and show some loyalty to a team that signed him as a free agent in 2005.

Colombo was Chicago's first round pick in 2002 but never lived up to expectations because of a severe knee injury.

Former coach Bill Parcells believed in Colombo and signed him to add depth to the offensive line with the hope of eventually starting.

In training camp for the 2006 season, Colombo beat out Rob Petitti and Jason Fabini for the starting right tackle spot. Fabini was cut by the team on Friday which results in a salary cap hit of roughly $100,000.

And after a strong 2006 season, Colombo became free again, but this time Dallas kept him.

He will receive a $4 million signing bonus with base salaries of $1 million in 2007 and $2 million in 2008.

"He's very happy," Colombo's agent, Ken Kremer, said. "He wanted to stay with the Cowboys. He loves them. He had some interest from several other teams but he wanted to stay with the Cowboys."

Staff writer Todd Archer contributed to this report