Dez Bryant more likely to be tagged than DeMarco Murray

The Dallas Cowboys have their two star skill position player set to hit the free agent market in the 2015 offseason, and both Dez Bryant and DeMarco Murray have been vital to the team’s terrific 2014 season thus far. Murray has been the best running back in the league this season and is garnering MVP votes, while Bryant is a sure-fire, top-ten wide receiver whom some would place in their top five at the position. Bryant, of course, fired his agent and signed on with Roc Nation in order to get a lucrative deal done more quickly, and he certainly stated his case last week in London after a negative leak relating to off-field concerns about him.

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This week, there’s a more positive report regarding Bryant to pass along, but it isn’t surprising news at all. The NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on NFL GameDay First, via NFL.com’s Kevin Patra, that the Cowboys are more likely to franchise Bryant than Murray if they end up having to pick between the two. This essentially means that they think Bryant is more valuable, and I would agree with that. While Murray has been better this season when adjusting for position, Bryant has less injury concerns, will last longer in this league as a WR, and is critical to the team’s success in the passing game. He also has more upside, and No. 1 WRs are more valuable in this league anyway.

Rapoport confirms that Jerry Jones and Roc Nation had a quick meeting, but this was likely just to touch base, as Rapoport reports that there’s obviously a “long way” to go before both parties can agree to a deal. Bryant is going to try and get as much money as possible, and he certainly deserves it; there’s no question that he has most of the leverage here.

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