The Dallas Cowboys are going to keep Dez Bryant in free agency, but the real question is whether it will be for a long term deal or the franchise tag and if he is tagged, the team could look at names like Jeremy Maclin, Torrey Smith, Michael Crabtree or Brian Hartline on the market for depth, as contract talks have been slowed due to rumors about a video involving Bryant.
The Cowboys obviously want to keep Bryant, but right now the issues with the video appear to be holding things up. According to Pro Football Talk, the alleged incident involved a woman being dragged in a Wal-Mart parking lot in 2011. The video has not been released and while Bryant's name comes up in the police report, it doesn't say he was directly involved. Bryant was mentioned because vehicles involved were registered to him.
Either way things have slowed down and some have speculated it's because of the video. Bryant is coming off of a strong season and he had 16 touchdowns last year and is looking to cash in. ESPN.com reports that if he is hit with the franchise tag, he may not show up to offseason workouts. Maclin is coming off of a career year and could cost too much, but Crabtree is interesting. Crabtree is coming off of a down season and the Cowboys could get him on a low risk deal.
The team has a number of options on the market and while they are not at the talent level of Bryant, there are players out there that could contribute to the Cowboys. Some of the names out there include Brian Hartline, Hakeem Nicks, Cecil Shorts, Eddie Royal, Wes Welker, Nate Washington, Michael Crabtree, Jeremy Maclin, Kenny Britt, Miles Austin, Torrey Smith, Denarius Moore, Randall Cobb and Harry Douglas. The team obviously can go big or small depending on what happens, as names like Nicks and Welker could come cheaply.
More on the video: According to Pro Football Talk, the NFL released an incident report about a 2011 event that happened in a Wal-Mart parking lot that may have included Bryant. The report says that a woman was seen "being dragged" from a car across a parking lot and towards another car.
The report does not say that Bryant was this person and says that someone called the police about the issue. When the police showed up, the Mercedes car that the woman was being dragged from was empty with the doors open. No one was present at the time until two men, Carl King and Christopher Mitchell, said they were called by the woman to get the car, which she referred to as "her" Mercedes. The car was registered to Bryant, as was the car driven by the two men.
Later, the incident describes, a Bentley car pulled up to the parking lot with the alleged victim and Dez Bryant. The woman later said that she was in an argument with a man names Alex Penson and that she was not assaulted or injured. She also said that she was dropped off at a friend's house and later called Bryant to come get her.