Dez Bryant is setting the bar for wide receivers this offseason. As several players wait for the wide receiver market to be set, many believe it will be Bryant that determines the new contract number for top playmakers like Julio Jones, Demaryius Thomas and AJ Green. However, negotiations on Bryant's deal with the Dallas Cowboys are stalling which is causing a ripple effect for other players. Will his holdout do the same?
According to ESPN's Ed Werder, Bryant called Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones and told him that if he does not get a long-term deal by the July 15 deadline, he will be holding out of training camp along with regular season games. Bryant has not signed his franchise tag yet and is hoping that the ultimatum will push Dallas to get a deal done. Bryant missed all of the offseason workouts after getting hit with the $12.823 million one-year tag. ProFootballTalk.com reported that there was nothing going on in terms of negotiations after a report surfaced that Bryant and the Cowboys were close to deal over the July 4th holiday. So the question becomes whether or not the other receivers follow in Bryant's footsteps.
Both Jones and Green have denied they plan on holding out. Jones told ESPN.com that he is more focused on winning games and has no plans of missing any practice time while he enters the final year of his rookie contract. Green told the media the exact same thing saying he is not hurting for money and will let negotiations play themselves out while he attends practice. However, Thomas appears to be headed in the same direction as Bryant.
As the Denver Broncos usher in a new coaching staff and playbook, Thomas skipped all of the offseason workouts for the team after getting handed the franchise tag. Everyone from Peyton Manning to Emmanuel Sanders expressed their anger in the lack of a contract being handed to Thomas as a deal looks unlikely at this point in time.
According to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com, a contract for Thomas is unlikely this offseason which means fans might be waiting a while to see the Denver star. The Broncos are trying to see if they need to break the bank on Thomas. The bar was originally set when Calvin Johnson inked a seven-year, $113.45 million deal with $48.8 in guaranteed money, the largest for a wide receiver. No other receiver has come close to that mark. Thomas and Bryant want to be the next to earn that type of money, but teams seem reluctant to hand out that kind of contract since it typically backfires in future moves.
The chances are high that neither receiver signs a new contract by the July 15 deadline. So the question remains if they will stand together in lengthy holdouts with their respective teams.