Dallas Cowboys Will Franchise Tag Dez Bryant On Monday
Some might consider it a failure. Others, a pricey insurance policy. But the one thing you can call it is far from done. On Saturday, Dallas Cowboys vice president Stephen Jones has reportedly indicated that the Cowboys will indeed use the franchise tag in order to retain the services of All-Pro wide recevier Dez Bryant in 2015.
"“Well, I think Dez is a special player,’’ Jones told the Dallas Morning News. “Obviously, he’s someone we don’t want to lose. We will pretty much cement that by using the franchise tag. Our goal is to, unlike what we’ve done in the past, is to hopefully keep working and get a contract done at some point. We want to continue to find a way to get there…It’s unrealistic to think it (contract) will happen now so we will use the tag.”"
The Cowboys and Bryant’s representatives were unable to agree to a long-term deal, despite have meetings as recently as Tuesday of last week. Jones apparently called Tom Condon, Dez’s representative, on Friday to inform him of the club’s intentions to use the franchise tag on the fifth-year recevier. Now, both parties will have yet another year to negotiate.
A suspected reason for the Cowboys’ delay in signing Bryant to a long-term contract has been his various off-the-field issues. In 2011, Dez was sued for over $800,000 for jewelry he received while still in college at Oklahoma State. Later that same year, Bryant was thrown out of a shopping mall for wearing sagging pants. In the worst incident of all, in 2012, Dez physically assaulted his own mother and was arrested on charges of domestic violence.
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In November, NFL Media Analyst Ian Rapaport reported that he found six instances of police going to Bryant’s house in DeSoto, TX. The instances included reports of harassment, a robbery of his house, and the unlocking of his car in which a baby was locked inside. None of these calls resulted in any convictions.
Earlier last month, rumors surfaced about alleged video tape that showed Bryant involved in some sort of criminal act. Last week, the NFL released details about an unknown disturbance in a Walmart parking lot in which Bryant was somehow involved. Police responded to the scene, which allegedly involved the suspected dragging of a woman from one vehicle to another. The officer in charge at the time determined that there was no offense committed and allowed all the parties involved to leave.
It isn’t clear if the rumored video is of this particular incident or another. But it actually now appears that the alleged video tape does not even exist.
Still, the fallout from the recent negative media barrage could ultimately be a very disgruntled Bryant. How those rumors and the Cowboys electing to use a one-year franchise tag instead of signing him to a long-term deal will affect the often emotional player is worrisome.
Bryant is expected to receive nearly $13 million this season due to the franchise tag. He recorded 88 catches for 1,320 yards and a league-leading 16 touchdowns in 2014.