Dez Bryant, Jerry Jones met but still no progress

The Dallas Cowboys gave a massive contract extension to franchise left tackle Tyron Smith, who cemented his place as one of the best players at the position after an excellent 2013 season. Dez Bryant also confirmed his elite status last year with a career-high 93 receptions and 13 touchdowns to go with a total of  1,233 receiving yards. The former Oklahoma State star is obviously underpaid on his new rookie deal, so he’s a huge priority for the Cowboys to lock up long term. Tony Romo, DeMarco Murray, and Bryant combine to form a core trio that is crucial to the Cowboys success, because their standout play keeps the team in games due to a porous defense “supporting” them.

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So far contract talks between the Cowboys and Bryant haven’t been fruitful, and that still hasn’t changed. The NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports that Cowboys czar Jerry Jones met with Bryant this morning, and both sides unsurprisingly spoke about a contract extension. Unfortunately, no progress was made during the talks, so we’re still at the status quo.

Bryant is in the final year of his rookie deal and will make just $1.78 million, so navigating the cap will be even tougher for the Cowboys after they give him what will likely be double-digit millions per year in a new contract. He’s one of the elite receivers in the game and has ridiculous upside, because all he has to do is develop more consistency in his hands and route-running to go from a beast to a Julio Jones-quality receiver. He’s already a matchup nightmare, and only Rob Gronkowski and Jimmy Graham (perhaps Calvin Johnson and some will say Brandon Marshall) are more dangerous in the red zone.