For more than a week, reports have been gurgling out of Dallas regarding an imminent long-term deal between the Cowboys and franchise-tagged receiver Dez Bryant. And still no deal has been done.
One bet-hedging report suggested an announcement on Monday, July 6. It’s now Wednesday, July 8, with no announcement happening yet, and no specific reason to believe that one is coming.
A league source with knowledge of the situation tells PFT that, with a week to go until the deadline for a multi-year contract arrives, nothing is imminent.
“I don’t know where they get the optimism from,” the source said regarding the reports out of Dallas. “There’s literally nothing going on.”
It could be that the optimism comes from the Cowboys, who believe that Bryant eventually will blink and accept whatever offer they currently have on the table. The Cowboys reportedly believe Bryant needs the money; some league insiders think that, even without a long-term deal in place, Bryant will show up for training camp to get the per diem.
Leaking the notion that a deal is coming also has a potential benefit for the team, if the reports of an imminent deal are coming from Cowboys sources. Creating the sense that a deal is coming will result in Dez getting more questions from family members, friends, and fans regarding when he’ll do the deal. He can resist the current offer for every minute of every day. If he gives in only once and accepts it, the Cowboys get what they want.
Especially if the Cowboys are merely leaking the information in order to soften Dez up for one last sweetening of their offer, in the hopes that he’ll pounce.
In theory, that could come at any time in the next week. As of right now, however, nothing is going on.