The Dallas Cowboys and Dez Bryant are working on a contract this offseason and there is a chance the wideout could hold out for training camp if a deal is not made and this comes as Jerry Jones may look at adding another free agent running back like Shonn Greene, Ben Tate or Chris Johnson heading into camp with Darren McFadden deadline with a sore hamstring.
The Cowboys used the franchise tag on Bryant and that means the team has until July 15 to agree to a long term deal. There have already been reports that Bryant could hold out for Week 1 of the season if he does not get a contract, but that could be more posturing than anything at this point. Mike Silver from NFL.com reported that Bryant's threats were "legit" and that he could hold out as part of his "negotiation strategy" to get a long term deal.
Bryant's agent Tom Condon said on Sirius XM NFL Radio that Bryant is "willing to miss regular season games" and that could help force the Cowboys to come to the table. Bryant has shown up for OTA workouts and made an appearance at minicamp, but he did not participate in practice and now there is a little less than a month to get a deal done. Bryant can sign the $12.82 million franchise tag offer and try to work out a longer contract next year, but he has been seeking that security this offseason.
Bryant had a monster season last year and he has been as good as anyone in the league at his position over the last three seasons. Bryant has had at least 10 touchdowns, 85 catches and 1225 yards in each year from 2012-2014 and last season he had 16 touchdown catches. Bryant has been the main target for Tony Romo and the Cowboys let DeMarco Murray go knowing that they would have to sin Bryant eventually. The contract hold up for Bryant could be slowing things down for Demaryius Thomas and the Broncos.
Jerry Jones said to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that there is "no doubt" that Bryant will play in Week 1 and that confidence may come from the fact that Jones knows the Cowboys eventually will get Bryant in on a deal. These long term negotiations can take a lot of time when it comes to players getting hit with the franchise tag and the rhetoric from Bryant could be mostly about posturing for those talks. According to Pro Football Talk, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said there was still a "wide gap" in contract talks with Bryant.
That gap could be the main reason why things are taking so long, but the sides still have multiple weeks until training camp begins. Darren McFadden and Joseph Randle are the top two backs on the depth chart for the Cowboys and right now Randle may have an edge over McFadden to start. According to Pro Football Talk, the team could consider bringing in a free agent like Shonn Greene and this comes after the team previously worked out Ben Tate and Felix Jones. The team has also signed Lache Seastrunk this offseason.
