Dez Bryant and the Dallas Cowboys have until Wednesday to come to a long-term deal or shelve negotiations for the season. So what will Bryant do if he doesn't get his long-term money?
NFL Media's Rand Getlin reported Monday that Bryant intends to skip training camp and an unspecified number of games if he and the Cowboys can't reach agreement on a long-term deal by Wednesday's tender deadline, according to sources familiar with Bryant's thinking.
Bryant decided to get the message out himself on Twitter:
NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport reported Monday that Bryant and Cowboys vice president Stephen Jones spoke last week. It was a private, cordial conversation. During that conversation, Bryant did not specifically say that he was going to miss regular season games, according to a high level Cowboys source.
Missing training camp is barely news. It happens with some players every season. Missing regular season games is a much different story. No unsigned franchise player since 2002 (Walter Jones) has skipped regular season work, so Bryant would be breaking the mold. "Intending" to skip games is a lot easier than following through with the plan. (Especially for a player that struggled to stay away from OTAs and minicamp this offseason.)
Bryant is due $12.82 million in 2015 if he signs his franchise tag. That's far more money than he's made in his entire five-year career, but Bryant could skip regular season work if he wanted to make things as painful as possible for the Cowboys. There have been no reported substantive contract negotiations in weeks.
Bryant has been on the record before that he could skip regular season time, but this time feels different with a deadline looming. The increase in rhetoric from both sides is typical of summer-long negotiations. We'll find out by Wednesday if deadlines (and threats) spur action for the Cowboys
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