Roy Williams will make close to $13 million this coming season, but isn't going to be handed a starting spot in Dallas. "We are going to play the best player, no matter what," Cowboys coach Wade Phillips said of his receiver spots. Williams has been a disappointment since the Cowboys traded first-, third- and sixth-round picks to the Detroit Lions for the receiver and a seventh-rounder in the middle of the 2008 season.

The Cowboys plan to continue using three running backs next season. Dallas executive vice president Stephen Jones said he expects all three backs -- Marion Barber, Felix Jones and Tashard Choice -- to remain Cowboys through the offseason. "I can tell you right now I don't see it a whole lot different than last year," Jones said Thursday. "All of these guys have gotten opportunities to help us win games. That will continue to be the case."

The Cowboys opted not to place their franchise tag on wide receiver Miles Austin, but they could place a tender offer on him. Dallas could place the highest tender offer -- a first- and third-round tender -- that would net Austin $3.168 million for the 2010 season. Another team, however, could offer Austin a contract and give up two picks if the Cowboys decided not to match that offer.

The Cowboys and Bengals will play in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game on Aug. 8 it was announced on Wednesday. It's the first time Dallas will play in the league's opening preseason game since 1999. Cincinnati last played in the game in 1988.

There will be no franchise tag and possibly no long-term deal for Miles Austin, according to Cowboys vice president Stephen Jones. A franchise tag would cost the Cowboys a $9.521 million salary for next year and require two first round picks as compensation if another team signed him to a long deal. However, Jones said there no reason to do that when the highest restricted free agent tender of $3.168 million with a first- and third-round draft pick compensation will do. "We don't need to use the franchise tag," Jones said. "How many times have seen another team give up a one and a three?"

Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware is scheduled to undergo surgery to shave down a bone spur on his left foot. Ware will have the procedure on Thursday. He wanted to wait until after the Pro Bowl to have the issue taken care of.

Cowboys wide receiver Miles Austin had a breakout season in 2009, but he's not worried about his contract status. "No, not worried at all," Austin said. "I have all the confidence in the world in the organization and I'm sure everything will be worked out right." He is a restricted free agent and Dallas has the option of using the franchise designation on him, placing a tender or working out a long-term deal.

Mark Cuban is warning the NFL about a potential work stoppage. "If the NFL is looking at a stoppage when they just had the biggest audience in the history of television, that tells you that just maybe the cap approach to their economics might not work," said Cuban. "I wrote a blog post a few years back saying that NHL players lost more than one billion in wages for their missed season. "It could be more than that if the NFL walks out. The players can't ever get that money back. Their playing time is perishable. That's an awful big hit for players to take and very difficult to justify in any quantitative analysis."

Emmitt Smith and Jerry Rice led a class of seven into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday. The NFL's career receiving and rushing leaders were joined in the Hall by John Randle, Russ Grimm, Rickey Jackson, Floyd Little and Dick LeBeau. Little and LeBeau were elected as senior committee nominees.

ESPN has fired Michael Irvin three days ahead of schedule. Pete Dits, the general manager of ESPN-FM (103.3), planned to fire Irvin on Monday, but news that Irvin was being sued for an alleged rape sped up the process. "He would not have been able to do his show today anyway," Dits said. "It would have been a media circus." Irvin's final show, as it has all week, was to have originated from the Super Bowl media center's crowded "radio row." Dits said disappointing ratings coupled with Irvin's relatively high salary were the reasons for dropping Irvin's 2-year-old show.