As expected, wide receiver Dez Bryant wasn’t in attendance today when the Cowboys’ June minicamp got underway. While the minicamp is mandatory, Bryant has yet to sign his franchise tender, meaning he’s not technically under contract with the team and therefore won’t be subject to fines for his absence.
While the Cowboys’ minicamp got started without Bryant, his agent, Tom Condon, appeared on SiriusXM NFL Radio to discuss the state of extension negotiations with the club. According to Condon (Twitter link), those talks are nonexistent at the moment, as there have been no conversations with the club regarding a new contract for his client.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that the Cowboys won’t eventually reopen discussions with Bryant and Condon. The team has until July 15 to work out a long-term contract agreement with its No. 1 receiver, and negotiations between clubs and franchised players typically go down to the wire.
Condon added (Twitter link) that – based on his conversations with his client – Bryant is willing to miss regular season games if he’s unhappy with the negotiations between the two sides. As I noted when this rumor first surfaced last week, it’s hard to imagine the Pro Bowl wideout following through on that threat, since the deadline for a long-term deal is next month. While Bryant may try to use some leverage to negotiate more favorable terms on his one-year contract, he won’t be able to sign a multiyear pact until after the season unless the two sides get something done by July 15.
For his part, Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett said today that he’s not worried about the talk of a Bryant holdout, suggesting that those rumors are being floated by others (Twitter link via Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram). Of course, Bryant himself said last Friday, “This is no rumor; it’s legit.” Do you buy it, or are you as skeptical as Garrett appears to be?