The Dallas Cowboys have been crystal clear regarding their intentions to keep star wide receiver Dez Bryant for the long term.
With owner Jerry Jones claiming at the end of last season that the team is prepared to use a franchise tag on Bryant, that may the the direction the team is headed for the time being.
Dallas Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones indicated at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis on Tuesday that the team is “leaning” in the direction of placing the franchise tag on Bryant rather than working on a long-term deal.
Elaborating on a future long-term deal for Bryant, Jones has this to say (via Dallas Morning News).Â
We don’t ever want to give up on a long-term deal. It’s something we worked on all of last year and it kind of cooled off once we got into the season. Who knows what tomorrow brings? Things have a sudden way of getting kicked in and you start to get some traction on something. You go down that road and get that done. It’s dominoes.
Should the team decide to go with placing a franchise tag on Bryant, it will cost the Cowboys an estimated $12.8 million. If for some crazy reason Bryant was not tagged, nor settled into a long-term contract, he would be one of the hottest wide receivers to hit the free agency next month. After putting up over 3,900 receiving yards on 273 catches over the past three seasons in Dallas, Bryant is due a huge contract at some point soon.