Ten days into May, Dez Bryant still doesn't have an NFL home.
With the deadline passing for free-agent signees figuring into the compensatory picks formula, Bryant's status could change in short order if any team is willing to take a chance on a former Pro Bowler whose production has waned.
Part of the issue for Bryant will be overcoming the belief that he's lost the ability to win one-on-one matchups on the outside, as Cowboys vice president of player personnel Will McClay noted as a reason Dallas moved on from their former star.
The man who owns the Cowboys, however, believes Bryant will be an asset wherever he lands.
"I don't feel that way. That's not to disagree at all with Will, but I wish and want Dez to have the opportunity to compete in the NFL," Jerry Jones said Wednesday, via the Dallas Morning News. "I think he can, and I think he will. He's certainly got the right stuff and the real question is: As every player in his career deals with injury or deals with the length of his career, I think he's very capable mentally as well as physically to do the kinds of things that you have to, to adjust as you move on through your career. We just lost one of the greatest role models that may have ever played this game in Jason Witten. But certainly I think he can take some of the things he's seen Jason do and incorporate that type of attitude and work ethic in what he's doing and get a chance to be back out there.
"I think that every evaluation that I've seen, Dez has an excellent opportunity to make a contribution and a significant contribution to a team. Our time was the time and the right time [to release him] as far as our relationship, but that doesn't preclude him from being productive for another team."
Throughout the offseason, Jerry Jones has been the good cop on Bryant's side. Most of the league, however, hasn't agreed with the Cowboys' owner. Dez's market has been quiet since he turned down a multi-year offer from the Baltimore Ravens before the NFL draft.