Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant has not yet signed his franchise tag offer from the team, and it surely doesn’t seem as if he is going to do so. Bryant is now contemplating sitting out the regular season opener, and there could actually be the chance that he misses even more games if a long-term contract with the team is not made by July 15.
“This is not a rumor. It’s legit.”
Those are the exact words given to NFL Network columnist Michael Silver when asked if he may miss any regular season time. Bryant’s holdout could not only head into the beginning of the season, but beyond as well.
Chris Mortensen of ESPN was one of the first to report that Bryant was considering a holdout from the Cowboys.
The franchise tag offered up by the Dallas Cowboys would guarantee Dez Bryant a salary of $12,823,000 for the 2015 season. July 15 is the deadline for all teams to negotiate and sign long-term contracts with franchise-tagged players.
If he doesn’t sign the franchise tag offer, Bryant has just one other offer and that’s to not play at all. Bryant’s agent, Tom Condon, wasn’t going to speak much on the situation.
“I’m just not going to comment about that. Our goal is still to get something done on a long-term basis by the deadline.”
Those were Condon’s words before Bryant decided to speak his feelings on possibly missing some regular season game action for the Cowboys. No one is really surprised at this move by the All-Pro receiver as he has plenty of leverage and he’s going to use it.
If Bryant does sit out any games, he would be missing close to $1 million per game under the franchise tag deal of $12.823 million guaranteed. Obviously, it’s something he is willing to risk and put on the line to get the long-term deal he truly wants.
Now, this could just be a cleverly disguised ploy on Bryant’s part to showcase his leverage and get the Cowboys to bite. The 26-year-old receiver is coming off a season in which he caught 88 passes for 1,350 yards and 16 touchdowns.
With the running game of the team up in the air at this moment, the Dallas Cowboys may not want to risk losing any game-time with Bryant.
Dez Bryant feels he is worth the kind of money that Calvin Johnson gets from the Detroit Lions and Larry Fitzgerald gets from the Arizona Cardinals. He may be right, and it seems he’s just getting started, but the Dallas Cowboys have to think the same to give him that deal or risk him missing time.
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