The Cowboys didn’t want receiver Dez Bryant. The Cowboys aren’t sure why no one else does.
”I don’t know the details as to why he hasn’t picked a home,” Cowboys executive Stephen Jones said Tuesday, via Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “I am sure he is being very thoughtful about it. I am sure he has good people talking to him too. I am sure at the end of the day he is being thoughtful about what his next steps should be. I am sure he is working hard. No one is rooting for Dez more than we are.”
Jones said, according to Hill, that multiple teams have inquired about Bryant -- and that whoever signs him will get a player who has extra motivation.
“You know at [NFL] meetings I have had different conversations about him,” Jones said. “At the Competition Committee meeting, some of the coaches there speak to it. I’m sure other coaches have called our coaches and wanted input on him. The greatest thing about Dez is he is a fierce competitor. I think he is now more driven and more competitive than he has ever been. We wish him nothing but the best.”
If he’s going to be that driven and that much more competitive, why don’t the Cowboys bring him back? Why did they cut him in the first place, when they could have tried to negotiate a new contract with a lower salary?
The Cowboys seem to be engaged in an awkward good-cop, bad-cop routine regarding Dez, with guys like Will McClay and Sanjay Lal making candid negative remarks about his current skills and guys like Stephen Jones and Jerry Jones throwing Dez repeated verbal bouquets. It’s almost as if the Joneses are trying to keep Dez from being more upset with the Cowboys than he already is -- even though Jerry has made it clear that there’s no way Dez will be coming back.
So, to summarize: The Cowboys think Dez would be a great addition to any NFL team. Except theirs, of course.