After reaching an agreement Tuesday night with the Dallas Cowboys, guard Brandon Moore decided to retire instead Wednesday.

Moore could not bring himself to get on a plane and leave his family and informed the Cowboys of his decision Wednesday morning.

"I was wrestling with it all day, going back and forth with my wife and family. Finally, we decided, 'Let's go ahead and do it.' I didn't sleep at all. I was wrestling with it. I realized it was too late in the game to uproot my family. I called my agent and said, 'I can't do it,' " Moore told ESPNNewYork.com's Rich Cimini.

"I played the game for 10 years. I lived in a house. I didn't have to go from team to team, so this would've been a big transition for me. You really don't grasp it until you actually agree to something. Then it was like, 'Wow, I have to leave tomorrow for California,' " he said.

Brandon Moore, who had played his entire career for the Jets, has decided to retire rather than join the Cowboys for this season. AP Photo/Lynne Sladky

In deciding to retire, Moore passed up a possible $2 million in 2013, a league source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter. He was to receive a $500,000 signing bonus, a base salary of $1.25 million, which was fully guaranteed, and a $250,000 play time bonus in his one-year contract.

Moore, 33, played for offensive coordinator Bill Callahan for four years with the New York Jets. He spent his first 11 seasons with the Jets, starting 142 of 144 games in his career and every game since 2005.

"I've been truly blessed. I don't have any regrets about my career. I gave it my all. I'd like to be known as a dependable guy who showed up for work every day and gave it his all," Moore said.

The Cowboys were interested in Moore because Nate Livings is expected to miss two to four weeks because of knee surgery last week and Mackenzy Bernadeau returned to practice late last week after missing the first two-plus weeks with a hamstring injury.

"We had conversations with him and we thought he might come in and help our team out," Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said Wednesday. "The conversations were way down the road and we thought we were close to an agreement with him, and he decided when he awoke up this morning he didn't want to play football anymore. So we respect that decision. We'll continue to try and evaluate that position as we go forward."