Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has indeed met with veteran receiver Dez Bryant, but the club has not asked him to accept a pay reduction at this point, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).
Bryant is due a $12.5MM base salary in 2018, and will count for $16.5MM on Dallas’ salary cap. If he’s released, the Cowboys would save $8.5MM but still be on the hook for $8MM in dead money. Dallas could designate the 29-year-old Bryant as a post-June 1 release and in turn save $12.5MM in 2018 space, but that extra room wouldn’t be available until June. As such, it wouldn’t help the Cowboys sign free agents in March.
Bryant has managed to get into the end zone 14 times over the past two seasons, but he hasn’t topped 1,000 yards since the 2014 season. 2017 also marked the first year that Bryant was able to stay healthy for all 16 games since that 2014 season. Bryant only posted 69 receptions and 838 yards, however, which isn’t in line with a salary that makes him the NFL’s eighth-highest-paid wideout.
Why in the hell would you just release him?
Because they can’t use him in a way that makes him worth the money they are paying for him and nobody will take on that contract.
Dez coach wants to see you bring your playbook
The cowboys would be really dumb to release Dez after seeing what Watkins and Robinson got in free agency
Not sure the connection. Dez hasn’t shown himself to be #1 quality WR in a few years and has a lot of mileage on him. While I’m sure he’d have suitors, he’s not gonna get as much money as his current contract
I disagree. Dez’s numbers have dropped because Prescott has mainly been throwing the short to intermediate routes and hasn’t really thrown the deep ball, which is what Dez specializes in. Both Robinson and Watkins are primarily deep ball threats. He might not get a long term contract, but somebody will give him upwards of $10m a year.
Not to mention the fact that Robinson missed the entire season last year and has 1 great season on his resume and nothing else.. Watkins is an injury risk and put up similar stats last year in a more high powered offense.. If Dez hits free agency he might even get a raise! LOL
If you watch Dez play he’s literally the same player as he always has been. The only difference is that Dak can’t pinpoint passes to places where only Dez can catch them like Romo did. Dez has never really been able to get open. But what do you do with a good receiver who you can’t utilize properly in your offense?
Oh I agree that Dez is not fitting in this system/scheme, so asking him to take a paycut, or moving on from him completely, isn’t a bad move. But teams will want him at a similar price that he’s getting now. And if the Cowboys get rid of Dez, they’ll still need someone to stretch the defense.
Because Dez has a hissy fit when he doesn’t get enough touches, but when he does he either drops them or fumbles!