Dez considering holding out for opener...

p1_

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This is a really good point.
If that's the case, it just makes Dez look stupid.
 

Chocolate Lab

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Wouldn't it be a bitch if this is the the one time Jerry's impatience and love of overpaying his players would work, and we get Stephen's cold analytic style instead?
 

Cotton

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Could Dez Bryant really stay away from Cowboys?

Todd Archer, ESPN Staff Writer

IRVING, Texas -- Could Dez Bryant really pull an Emmitt Smith, as ESPN Insider Chris Mortensen reported earlier today, and stay away from the Dallas Cowboys into the regular season?

It was difficult for Bryant to stay away from the voluntary offseason program. He showed up to work out and meet with coaches a few times. He even took part on an extremely limited basis in an organized team activity.

With this story I guess we can call off the bets of Bryant signing his franchise-tag tender worth $12.823 million and showing up at next week’s minicamp. Since Bryant is unsigned, the minicamp is not mandatory.

A lot of things are said during negotiations to hopefully spur on one side or the other. The Cowboys have been in no big rush to do a long-term deal with Bryant. There haven’t been any serious talks between the team and his agents, Tom Condon of CAA and Kim Miale of Roc Nation except for a quick meeting after the NFL scouting combine in February.

It’s not that the Cowboys don’t want Bryant to be a Cowboy lifer. It’s not that Bryant wants to go anywhere else.

There is just a lot of gray when it comes to these talks. The Cowboys want certain conditions on the money they give Bryant and Bryant wants to be compensated with the best receivers in the NFL.

Neither side is wrong in their stance. The Cowboys have used the tools provided to them by the collective bargaining agreement. Bryant has used his right to sit out and withhold his services.

If there is a sliver of good news it’s that Condon repeated the wish of Stephen Jones from last week that he hopes to get a deal done before the July 15 deadline. Perhaps neither side wants to give up any perceived leverage by being the first to call.

Sometimes it can be that trivial.

In 2012 Drew Brees was given the franchise tag by the New Orleans Saints but didn’t sign his deal until right before the same deadline Bryant faces on July 15. Brees’ agent? Condon.

“Dez has great energy, has great passion,” Jason Garrett said earlier this offseason. “It’s infectious.”

Bryant also has great pride. He has proved to be among the game’s best receivers, if not the best. He has done something in franchise history that has never been done: three straight seasons with at least 80 catches, 1,000 yards and 10 or more touchdowns.

If the Cowboys want to use the franchise tag on Bryant in 2016 as well, then he would make roughly $28 million over the next two years. There should be an easy way to figure out a deal both sides want.

Part of that gray area is due to what’s happening in Denver with Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas, who also was given the franchise tag. He is threatening to sit out, too. Julio Jones and A.J. Green are in the final years of their contracts with the Atlanta Falcons and Cincinnati Bengals.

The teams don’t want to set the market and they don’t want to pay a receiver the $16 million a year the Detroit Lions are giving Calvin Johnson.

A lot of this will come down to whether the Cowboys believe Bryant's Emmitt Smith-like threat. (Smith missed the first two games of the 1993 season in a contract dispute.) I would guess they don’t. Bryant loves the game. Just check out his Instagram and Twitter accounts. He loves his teammates. He loves to practice.

Could he really stay away?

That would be the toughest test Bryant has had in his professional life.
 

Genghis Khan

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Emmitt was under a different set of rules in 93, so I'm not sure that's an apt comparison. As was already mentioned in this thread, Dez can't get his deal in September so there's no point in holding out. It was different for emmitt.

I think this is obvious posturing from Condon. No doubt that's where mortinsen got his info.
 
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ravidubey

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Absolutely.
We don't know half the shit the Cowboys do. They probably acknowledge a true off-field disaster is possible for them to hold this over his head like this.

Then again, Demaryius Thomas still isn't signed either, so it's probably more about not wanting to set market value.
 

shane

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Um no... that would be our OL and the commitment to run behind it. We had Dez last off-season and we were still predicted to be crap. It was only the aforementioned that brought the Cowboys to prominence last year. He does deserve to get paid, but not a cap breaking deal.
The team has a different mindset and it isn't because of the talented OL. It's because Dez has emerged as a leader. There were several games where the teams of old would have folded last year but we came back and won. Many of the times Dez would emerge with a big play to kickstart those rallies or comebacks.
 

L.T. Fan

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I suspect quaranteed money is the hang up on the contract proposal. That is the part of player contracts that has gotten completely out of hand.
 

Jiggyfly

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I suspect guaranteed money is the hang up on the contract proposal. That is the part of player contracts that has gotten completely out of hand.
Out of hand for who?

Don't you believe in free enterprise or does that only apply to the owners?
 

Jiggyfly

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:lol

You really want to argue
So what's supposed to happen on here, everybody agree or ask a question if you disagree with a premise?

Let me know so I will not "argue" too much, and was the Wilson debate wanting to argue as well, let me know so I can conform to the norm.
 

Cotton

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Dez Bryant’s agent confirms holdout threat; Garrett isn’t concerned

David Moore

The Cowboys are three months away from the season opener, and the debate continues about whether or not receiver Dez Bryant will take the field that September evening against the New York Giants.

The Pro Bowl receiver has told associates that he may sit out the opener if he doesn’t reach a long-term agreement with the club by the July 15 deadline. Tom Condon, who represents Bryant, said on Sirius XM NFL Radio Tuesday morning that his client has told him he’s willing to sit out regular season games.

“It doesn’t concern me one bit,’’ Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett said of not having his star receiver to open the season.

“Dez loves football. He has a great passion for the game. He wants to be a great player. He wants our team to be great. He’s been working every day to do that and we’ll take care of the business as we go.

“We’re focused on the guys who are here right now.’’

Bryant wasn’t at Valley Ranch with the rest of his teammates Tuesday. There are no consequences to his absence from this mandatory mini-camp because he has yet to sign his $12.82 million tender.

If Bryant and the Cowboys are unable to agree on a deal by July 15 _ Condon said there have been no conversations of late _ the receiver must play the 2015 season under the franchise tag. His only option at that point would be not to play and not get paid.

“We all just focus on what we can control,’’ Garrett said. “Dez is getting himself ready. He’s in a situation where the business of the NFL is kind of taking precedence right now but he’s working hard on his own away from our building. It’s not a unique situation when you’re a franchise player for guys to do that.

“He will take care of his business. We will take care of our business.

“Hopefully all this stuff can be worked out sooner rather than later.’’
 

Cotton

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ravidubey

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Dallas will be content to franchise Dez this year and next and let someone else set the market.

It's way too over-inflated. Does anyone believe Calvin Johnson is worth what Detroit is paying him? Also, you have to think Johnson or Fitzgerald or both will be cut before 2016, dropping the WR franchise numbers big time.
 

boozeman

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Dallas will be content to franchise Dez this year and next and let someone else set the market.
I would like Bryant locked up, but that's the best approach IMO.

You need a quality WR IMO. Not every team can be the Patriots who do it without a star runner or pass catcher. We need Bryant. But needing him and paying out the ass is a tough place to be in. I'd hope that Denver caves for Thomas or Cincy does for Green and sets the bar lower than what Cal/Fitzgerald got.
 

Cotton

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I would like Bryant locked up, but that's the best approach IMO.

You need a quality WR IMO. Not every team can be the Patriots who do it without a star runner or pass catcher. We need Bryant. But needing him and paying out the ass is a tough place to be in. I'd hope that Denver caves for Thomas or Cincy does for Green and sets the bar lower than what Cal/Fitzgerald got.
Yeah, but how much do you save if you pay him 28 mill over two years and then sign him to a long term contract then? Doesn't make sense to me.
 

Cowboysrock55

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Yeah, but how much do you save if you pay him 28 mill over two years and then sign him to a long term contract then? Doesn't make sense to me.
You probably lose him after two years. People underrate what happens when you piss a player off. It's going to impact his play on the field.
 

boozeman

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You probably lose him after two years. People underrate what happens when you piss a player off. It's going to impact his play on the field.
Yep. If they can't get him locked up long term, you might as well add WR to the top of the draft wish list next April. Players don't take kindly to the lack of commitment two consecutive franchise tags demonstrates.

I don't think it comes to that though.
 

Cotton

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You probably lose him after two years. People underrate what happens when you piss a player off. It's going to impact his play on the field.
Exactly. You win nothing by doing this nonsense. Just pay the man. Don't get cute.
 

NoDak

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Exactly. You win nothing by doing this nonsense. Just pay the man. Don't get cute.
ESPN reported earlier that Dez is wanting 17mil a year. You willing to pay the man that much?
 
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