Earlier today, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant, playing under the final year of his rookie contract, has left agent Eugene Parker and teamed with Jay-Z and Roc Nation. It’s an interesting development as Bryant and Dallas look to discuss a possible extension, so look’s look at some reaction to the news:
- Roc Nation was formed as part of a partnership with the CAA talent agency, and Ed Werder of ESPN hears (via Twitter) that CAA agent Tom Condon is in discussions to become Bryant’s representative.
- At Roc Nation itself, Kim Miale will represent Bryant, according to Liz Mullen of the Sports Business Journal (Twitter link), who penned a profile of Miale in June.
- Roc Nation has wanted to add Bryant to its client list since last year’s Super Bowl, says Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
- One reason Bryant may have made the change is that he wanted to get a new deal done as quickly as possible, according to Rand Getlin of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Parker, however, thought the Cowboys were low-balling Bryant, and therefore wanted to wait on signing an extension.
- Sources tell Getlin (via Twitter) that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones might be reticent to offer an extension to Bryant now that he is with Roc Nation. It’s fair to wonder if Jones felt some level of comfort dealing with Parker and was surprised by Bryant’s agency change.
- As Joel Corry of CBSSports.com notes (on Twitter), this move doesn’t mean Bryant won’t return to Dallas. The Cowboys can still use the franchise tag on him for 2015, and are far more likely to pay him the ~13MM receiver tag than to use the tender on DeMarco Murray, which would entitle the running back to about $11MM.
- Per Watkins (Twitter link), Bryant has now had three agents during his career: Parker, Drew Rosenhaus, Parker a second time, and now Roc Nation.