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Dez Bryant, Dallas Cowboys agree to five-year deal worth $70 million

By Kevin Parvizi

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Thanks in part to a contract offer worth at least $13 million earlier today, the Dallas Cowboys and Dez Bryant have consistently gotten closer and closer to getting a deal done ahead of today’s 4 p.m. ET deadline. After ESPN’s Adam Schefter passed along that the “sense” is that a deal will get done between both parties, the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport chimed in by reporting that both sides are “finalizing” a deal. CBS Sports’s Jason La Canfora then reported that a “beyond bizarre” event would have to occur for Bryant to not sign a deal.

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ESPN Dallas’s Todd Archer was the first to put a number out there, tweeting that “if” a deal happens, it would be for a total of five years. Even with all of the reports circling around stating that deal was “close”, there were still worries that something could fall apart at the end, so we were all naturally glued to Twitter.

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But in the end, the concerns were for naught, because the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that a five-year, $70 million deal had been agreed upon. We’ll still have to hear about the guaranteed money, which is the biggest issue here, but $14 million per year is right in line with what most of us expected for Dez. Considering he wanted Calvin Johnson money and seemed to press hard for it, it’s fair to expect more guarantees than expected, as the Cowboys always want to limit guarantees.

UPDATE: ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reports that Bryant will get $45 million, so it’s safe to say that he got what he wanted on the guaranteed front, though it’s unclear how much of it is in a signing bonus (or how much is fully guaranteed in total).

Update #2: Per ESPN’s Ed Werder, that $45 million is fully guaranteed. Nicely done, Roc Nation. Werder notes that the deal hasn’t been signed yet, but it would take something unexpected for this to fall through. Still, hang tight in case.

All of these reports came after it seemed like a deal might not happen at all despite the optimism generated by the aforementioned $13 million offer, but it looks like all that was needed were a few details. The Cowboys know how important Bryant is to their team, and Bryant has always wanted to get a deal done. Although he threatened to hold out via Twitter and could have been serious about it, Bryant is famous- more like notorious- for his love for the game.

Terrance Williams can stretch the field well and Cole Beasley is an under-appreciated slot guy with good quickness and amazing hands, but Bryant is the heart and soul of the Cowboys offense. With DeMarco Murray gone, the pressure was on the Cowboys to get a deal done, and it’s unusual for a star wide receiver to have leverage over the team; Denver Broncos star Demaryius Thomas isn’t in the same position, though a deal with Bryant always figures to help his cause.

In any case, full credit goes to Dez Bryant for recognizing his leverage and acting on it, and it has indeed paid dividends. Yes, he was probably bluffing about holding out, but he has Roc Nation and the fear of the Cowboys on his side. See, the Cowboys can call his bluff, but it would have been disastrous for them to call it and end up wrong, especially since their lofty Super Bowl ambitions rest on having their best difference-maker and second-most important player overall in it for the long haul with their most important player’s window closing in the next few years.

Bryant has caught at least 12 touchdown passes, 88 receptions, and 1,233 receiving yards in each of the past three seasons, meaning the 26-year-old is young and a well-established elite receiver. There might not be a better weapon in the red zone, and he takes a huge amount of pressure off of everyone around him, whether it is the running backs, Tony Romo, Beasley, Jason Witten, or, most of all, Williams.

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