Part of the reason the Cowboys were able to believe Dez Bryant might not stay away from regular season games was the fact he couldn’t stay away from minicamp.
And even after signing his five-year, $70 million contract with the Cowboys yesterday, Bryant admitted that the possibility was hard for him to consider.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever been in this kind of situation, and it was extremely hard,” Bryant told the team’s official website, via the Dallas Morning News. “It’s the whole reason why I came out to OTAs. I knew I was going to hear it from my agent, I was like ‘I don’t care.’ ”
Bryant clearly didn’t give away all his leverage — did we mention the $70 million? — but he reiterated he was serious about staying away if need be, as he threatened during the build-up to the deal.
“I’m a very passionate person, and I’m one of those guys that – I am that guy that, I have to stand by my word, because that’s how I want to raise my babies. It was all me. It was honest,” he said. “Now that we’ve got the deal done, I can only imagine what’s fixing to go down this season. We’re Super Bowl ready.”
The Cowboys’ belief they have a fixed window to win a championship with this group made it easier for them to do this deal with Bryant, and that was fine with him, since he clearly didn’t want to go anywhere else.
“I smiled the whole way over here – I couldn’t even say nothing but just smile and laugh, because I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “All I could just think about is that it’s a dream – a dream come true. I think the only thing that’s missing is a Super Bowl.”
If he can deliver one of those, the Cowboys will consider it money well spent.