11:26am: While the Cowboys improved their offer, it’s viewed as “still not great” by Bryant’s camp, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk (Twitter link), who suggests the odds of a deal getting done are less than 50/50. However, Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter link) wouldn’t be surprised if Bryant accepts the team’s best offer today.

10:33am: The Cowboys have increased their contract offer to Dez Bryant and are making a strong push to sign their star wideout, according to Ian Rapoport and Rand Getlin of NFL.com (Twitter link). Rapoport indicates that Bryant is “more optimistic than ever” about getting a deal done.

It’s not clear whether the Cowboys just increased their offer to Bryant today, but with about four and a half hours until the deadline, it appears the two sides are making a real effort to get something done and avoid the possibility of a holdout that extends through the preseason and potentially into the regular season.

According to Rapoport and Getlin, the Cowboys’ new offer to Bryant goes “beyond $13MM” annually, which still seems a little light. Over the last couple weeks, figures like seven years and $100MM have been floating around, and I’d expect it takes something in that neighborhood to get Bryant locked up. Still, the chances of an agreement being reached will hinge significantly on the guaranteed money in the Cowboys’ offer, and possibly the contract language that could void those guarantees.

A number of factors remain in play as this afternoon’s deadline nears, including Bryant’s threat to hold out and the NFLPA’s threat to file a complaint against the Cowboys and Broncos for collusion. If the two sides can hammer out a multiyear extension today, it would render many of those other factors and concerns moot.

2:00pm: Bryant himself has taken to Twitter to make his stance clear, tweeting that he “will not be there” if he doesn’t get a new deal from the Cowboys. Bryant’s tweet doesn’t specify whether he means he’ll miss training camp or some of the regular season, but based on what we’ve already heard today, I’d guess he’s referring to both. Whether or not he’ll actually follow through with the threat remains to be seen.

11:29am: Contradicting his own report, Werder tweets that Jones has denied that Bryant threatened to miss camp and regular season games. Considering we’ve been hearing for weeks that this was part of Bryant’s plan, Jones must be disputing the fact that the wideout made those comments specifically in a call to him.

10:36am: While reports this summer have suggested that Dez Bryant is considering sitting out regular season games if his contract situation remains unsettled, it didn’t appear that the Cowboys were seriously anticipating that outcome. Now, according to Ed Werder of ESPN.com, Bryant has personally called Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones to tell him that if the two sides don’t reach a long-term agreement by Wednesday, he won’t attend training camp and he’ll miss real games.

Of course, it remains possible that Bryant and his camp are bluffing, particularly with the July 15 deadline for franchised players to sign multiyear contracts looming. However, now that the threat is coming directly from the star wideout, rather than from sourced reports or second-hand quotes, the Cowboys will likely have to take it a little more seriously — even if the team still suspects it’s a play for leverage.

There have been mixed reports in recent weeks on how close Bryant and the Cowboys are to working out a long-term extension, with some outlets suggesting both sides are optimistic about a deal, while others say there’s no indication that progress has been made. Generally, deadlines spur action, so I’d expect talks between Bryant’s camp and the Cowboys to heat up this week, even if those negotiations don’t ultimately result in an extension.

Details on the specific figures being negotiated by the Cowboys and Bryant have been scarce, though Mike Fisher of 105.3 The Fan has cited seven years and $100MM as a point of reference. Those numbers would make some sense for both sides, though the guaranteed money involved in the deal could be a sticking point.

As the Cowboys negotiate with Bryant, they’re also being eyed by the NFL Players Association, which suspects that the Cowboys and Broncos have colluded in contract talks for Bryant and Demaryius Thomas, respectively. So far, the NFLPA hasn’t formally filed a complaint, but it sounds as if the union believes the two teams have spoken to one another about the receivers’ contract situations, perhaps in an effort to limit their overall earnings.

Speaking of earnings, while players are usually subject to fines if they skip training camp, Bryant has yet to sign his one-year franchise tender, so if he doesn’t ink a long-term contract, the 26-year-old figures to leave that offer unsigned for now. As long as he’s not technically under contract, Bryant can’t be fined for missing training camp, though he’d begin to forfeit his 2015 salary at a rate of about $754K per week if he misses regular season action.

While I could see him showing up late to training camp, I’d be surprised if Bryant followed through on his threat to miss regular season games. Once Wednesday’s deadline passes, he and the Cowboys can’t finalize a multiyear contract until after the season, so sitting out Week 1 wouldn’t spur the team to meet his long-term demands. Still, perhaps the threat of a holdout could result in the Cowboys modifying the Pro Bowler’s one-year deal to include some player-friendly terms, such as a guarantee that the club won’t franchise him again in 2016.

The Cowboys and wide receiver Dez Bryant have one more week to work out a multiyear agreement before the July 15 deadline comes and goes. If the two sides don’t strike a long-term deal by that deadline, Bryant will have to play on his one-year franchise tender in 2015, if he wants to play at all. Despite reports of positive movement in extension negotiations, it doesn’t appear that the two sides are close to an agreement for now. Here’s the latest:

• A league source with knowledge of the situation tells Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk that no deal is imminent between Bryant and the Cowboys. “I don’t know where they get the optimism from,” the source said, referring to reports suggesting a deal could get done this week. “There’s literally nothing going on.” Florio also offers some theories about where the leaks of an impending deal are coming from, and how they might affect talks over the next week.
• Mike Fisher of 105.3 The Fan, who strongly suggested last week that a deal could come following the July 4th weekend, provides an update at Scout.com (subscription required). Fisher continues to suggest that there’s a level of “comfort” between the two sides, but adds that doesn’t necessarily mean that an agreement is close. Fisher expects both sides to roll up their sleeves and work toward getting something done by next Wednesday’s deadline.

We’re eight days away from this year’s deadline for franchised players to reach multiyear contract agreements with their current teams, and if there’s one player who seems most likely to work something out with his club, it may be Cowboys wideout Dez Bryant. Although some reports have suggested there hasn’t been much progress made between the two sides, Mike Fisher of 105.3 The Fan indicated last week that the Cowboys and Bryant were “comfortable” with the state of the negotiations, suggesting there’s a good chance of a deal before the July 15 deadline.

Here’s the latest on the Bryant situation:

• Echoing Fisher’s report, Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter link) continues to hear that a new deal for Bryant isn’t out of the question this week. La Canfora expects things to continue evolving between the wide receiver and the Cowboys star, with a possible conclusion by mid-week. On Sunday, Jason Cole of Bleacher Report noted that owner Jerry Jones and son Stephen Jones will be out of the country until July 10 or 11, which could theoretically hold up the deal.
• Bryant’s situation has become the most fluid of the franchise-player negotiations, writes Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. While Florio doesn’t rule out the possibility of the Cowboys locking up their Pro Bowl receiver soon, he notes that – for now at least – there are no tangible signs that a deal is imminent.
• Pointing to Calvin Johnson as an example, Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com explains why Bryant may want to cash in on a long-term extension now rather than going year to year. The Lions paid their star receiver $16.2MM annually coming off a season in which he posted nearly 1,700 yards, and while he topped that number in the first year of his new deal, Johnson’s production has declined over the last two seasons. As Seifert observes, some decline is to be expected for receivers at that stage of their careers, so signing a multiyear pact now may represent Bryant’s best opportunity to maximize his earnings.

Zach Links contributed to this post.