Dez Bryant: Dallas Cowboys should throw away the ‘Ex’

The Dallas Cowboys have to ask themselves if they’re really prepared to endure another season with Dez Bryant as a primary receiving threat.

The Dallas Cowboys can now focus on an offseason that was never supposed to begin before Christmas Day. The reasons for the 15-game schedule in 2017 are many, but none rank higher than a man in a suit that never straps on a helmet and of course an injury bug that showed it’s ugly head as early as August.

Nothing can be done about what happened in 2017. To be frank, I got tired of the drama which seemed much more like one of those memorable – or forgettable – seasons from the 1990s. Beyond the actual roster, the neutering of Roger Goodell was essential for the NFL moving forward, but let’s just stick to the Dallas Cowboys for now.

What does this team do about Dez Bryant?

I’m going to assume that you saw Bryant’s fumble and interception allowed against the raggedy Seattle Seahawks, an NFC West ‘has-been’ that might get one more taste of playoff defeat before that franchise has to get under the hood to rebuild an engine.

But did you also see the pouting that Bryant was doing through the first few quarters of action? Did it look to you like he was loafing on some plays? Was your impression that Bryant’s focus was on something other than beating the Seattle Seahawks, a team playing without perennial Pro Bowlers Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor in the secondary?

If you answered ‘yes’ to just one of those questions, then the Dallas Cowboys have a serious problem moving ahead.

I answered all of those questions with a resounding ‘YES’ and I think that it’s time to consider life without Bryant.

It was just a couple of years ago that Bryant turned my stomach with one of the stupidest statements I’ve ever heard, although it wasn’t exactly out of left field – nor was it shocking.

When faced with the threat of having to play for only $13 million dollars under the franchise tag in 2015, the following statement sounded just as ridiculous as the idea of Bryant actually learning a route tree with more than two branches.

I’m not going to get into Bryant’s declining statistics in just about every category. Nor am I going to point out that his stats aren’t commensurate with the productivity he brings to the football field week after week. Others have done this already and the point is well established.

I’m going to point out why these facts are so prevalent in a player that should be helping his young quarterback more than any other receiving target not named Jason Witten. Where’s Dak Prescott‘s security?

Bryant’s rookie contract included a guarantee of $8.3 million back in the summer of 2010. Now, call me a penny pincher if you want, but that sum of money right there is enough to set up just about any reasonable person for life – that’s some powerful security, I’d say.

Then came the threat of the franchise tag in ’15, which would have guaranteed another $13 million dollars for just one season of football, right?

Listen, I get the business of the NFL and Bryant had a fair argument that a one-year franchise tag wasn’t exactly fair in all respects.

But now I’m really wondering why that ridiculous extension signed in ’15 that guaranteed Bryant, then just a five-year veteran, a total of $45 million took so long to offer. If you break down the contract details at Spotrac.com, you’ll see that there’s a big dropoff in that ‘dead cap’ figure after ’17 that will make the future look quite interesting.

The Landry Hat’s own Steven Mullenax has profiled seven members of the Dallas organization who should be fired next season, and guess who’s No. 2 on that list?

This Dallas Cowboys offense truly has no outside weapons that really change how opposing defenses line up. Right now it’s all about stopping Ezekiel Elliott, and rightly so – that’s exactly what I’d do. But having someone aside from only Terrance Williams making some plays on the outside is vital for Prescott’s development moving forward. I’d be tempted to enter the offseason with Williams and Brice Butler as my top two wide receivers and let things start from there.

No, Cole Beasley is not an outside threat – neither is Ryan Switzer, for that matter. We’ll see soon enough about Noah Brown, who hasn’t shown enough for anyone to know what he’s all about, although his height is ideal.

Next: Seven Dallas Cowboys who should be fired in 2018

Yes, it’s time for the Dallas Cowboys to throw up the ‘X’ – or should I say ‘EX’ where the current player wearing the historic No.88 is concerned. Dez Bryant doesn’t have the clutch factor that Drew Pearson had and certainly not the passion or determination that Michael Irvin possessed.