An eight-year veteran wide receiver. A former first round pick. 73 career touchdowns. Close to 7,500 receiving yards. A passionate 29 year old athlete in great shape. An unsigned free agent.
Why is no-one throwing up the X for Dez to sign on?!
One of the most surprising moments of the offseason this year came in April, when the Dallas Cowboys released their star WR, without any real warning or explanation. Many expected him to quickly find a new home, but with little interest from other NFL teams, the tumbleweed blowing around this former Cowboy is becoming louder by the day.
Initially, the Baltimore Ravens flirted, offering Bryant a multi-year deal, allowing them to stay within their salary cap. Bryant rejected the offer, insisting on a one-year deal. Since then, there has been little-to-no interest, with the exception of a meeting with the Cleveland Browns last week. The latest episode of Hard Knocks gave us snippets of this meeting, but left us with more questions than answers, as Jackson seemed keen, but ultimately chose not to sign the free agent.
Perhaps the multi-year contract has again become an issue. The Browns are currently rebuilding their entire organization. They have a talented set of young receivers, in whom they are trying to instil a new winning mentality. Meanwhile, Bryant wants to use the season to showcase his abilities as a #1 WR, in order to move on to what he hopes will be a large contract elsewhere next season. Dez is not a guy to build your team around right now. It is highly doubtful that his ego would allow him to act as WR2 or 3 for any team. Sacrificing talented young, moldable players for a one-year stud may sound like the old Browns, but it’s not the ‘new team, who dis?’ mentality Hue Jackson is trying to carve out in Cleveland.
Wasting no time following his brief courtship with the Browns, Bryant has taken to social media to do a little ass kissing. After praising both Bill Belichick and Tom Brady – citing the latter as his favorite player- on Twitter, he’s fuelled debates about potential roles with the New England Patriots. He certainly seems to meet their criteria on paper; the perennial Super Bowl contenders are known for kicking the tires on older players and making the most of their abilities. However, Bryant is also outspoken, fiery, and volatile. That is not the Patriot way. The conservative atmosphere in Foxborough may be a little too much for someone with Dez’s temperament, and the lack of interest so far from the Patriots, suggests that they know it too.
So, one team released Bryant, two claim not to be interested and another he rejected. That leaves 28 other teams who do not appear to be showing any interest in a talented veteran and threat to red zones everywhere. Each team may have their own reason for steering clear, and no analyst or reporter has been able to draw a definitive answer to the question of why Dez Bryant remains unsigned. Even Jerry Jones, the man who released him, is apparently surprised.
Is it the infamous video, whose very existence and content are unconfirmed? Is it his fiery nature and recent Twitter rant against his former team? Maybe. However, a quick look at recent NFL rosters would suggest that off-field or character concerns are often ignored if a player is talented enough. Maybe it is simply that his one-year contract stipulation suggests a college-style short-term recruitment, and teams don’t want to waste their time and money contributing to his highlight reel.
The only thing we know for sure, is that we are just weeks ahead of the season opener, and a star veteran player remains unsigned. We may never know what is scaring away potential suitors, but the clock is ticking.
