Dez Bryant’s potential holdout, and updating all franchise-tagged players
I understand Dez Bryant’s threats, and I’d do the same.
Bryant, the Dallas Cowboys’ star receiver who was given the $12.8 million franchise tag, reiterated on Monday that he would sit out of training camp and maybe even regular-season games if he doesn’t get a long-term deal. That’s the only leverage he has left, and he has to use it. The deadline for a long-term deal is Wednesday. There are four franchise-tagged players who haven’t signed, and they’re all under the same deadline. If Wednesday passes with no deal, by rule they have to play 2015 under the franchise tag.
That’s the problem.
A holdout does him no good because the Cowboys can’t give him a new deal during the season no matter what. That’s the rule. Maybe sitting out training camp and avoiding more injury risk makes some sense. Bryant will do just fine without camp practices and preseason games. But missing regular-season games won’t accomplish much. All he would be doing is missing out on about $752,000 per game. That’s an expensive stand to take, with no real benefit. Would sitting out games cause the Cowboys to not franchise tag him again next year? That seems unlikely. Bryant could report after 10 weeks (you may remember then-San Diego Chargers receiver Vincent Jackson doing that under his restricted free agent tag in 2010), but that probably wouldn’t help his reputation around the league. Though, we all know, some team would sign him for big money no matter what. And it still might not dissuade the Cowboys from tagging him again.
Let’s rule out Bryant, who has made about $11.8 million in five years according to Spotrac, sitting out 10 weeks and giving up more than $7.5 million. And let’s also rule out him doing something crazy like sitting out the whole year. If Bryant doesn’t get that deal by Wednesday’s deadline, his best option will be to play. And it’s not a bad one.
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The new collective-bargaining agreement makes it very tough for teams to tag a player three times. If you go to page 45 of the CBA (the 60th page of the PDF online), it outlines the rule, which is basically that the third tag the Cowboys give him would be at the quarterback level, which was more than $18 million this year. That won’t happen. So if Bryant decides to play it out for two years, he’d collect about $26 million and hit free agency at age 28. That’s not the solution he wants because it clearly comes with some risk. But that ideal option doesn’t exist if Wednesday passes without a deal.
The best outcome for both sides is a long-term contract, and there’s still time to get one done by the deadline. The Cowboys should sign Bryant to a long-term deal, considering he’s a centerpiece of their franchise and it’s doing them no good to alienate him. But just about everyone believes Bryant will play in Week 1 regardless of his threats or the lack of a new deal, because sitting out doesn’t make a ton of sense.
Here’s a quick update on the other three franchise-tagged players who haven’t signed, with Wednesday’s deadline coming fast:
New York Giants DE Jason Pierre-Paul: This is a unique situation, of course, after Pierre-Paul suffered injuries from fireworks that included having his right index finger amputated. A long-term deal isn’t coming this week. ESPN.com’s Dan Graziano wondered if the two sides might agree on a lesser salary than the $14.8 million franchise tag for defensive ends just to get Pierre-Paul back into camp. It’s a mess.
Kansas City Chiefs OLB Justin Houston: The two sides are expected to meet on Tuesday, Pro Football Talk said, but they’ll have to move quickly. There hasn’t been any negotiation between the sides lately, according to the Kansas City Star. There seems to be some optimism about Houston getting a long-term deal, as outlined by that Star story, because the team wants him to be a Chief for a long time.
Denver Broncos WR Demaryius Thomas: There has been some negotiating between the sides. According to 9News’ Mike Klis, the Broncos have offered Thomas something “far north” of what the second-highest paid receiver, Minnesota’s Mike Wallace, makes (it should be forever on the top of Jeff Ireland’s resume in red ink that when he was Miami’s GM he signed Wallace to the second-highest deal for a receiver). Wallace makes about $12 million annually, and Calvin Johnson leads all receivers at more than $16 million. Klis said Thomas wants more than Johnson. The huge gap between Johnson and Wallace at No. 1 and 2 is clearly an issue for Thomas and Bryant. For Thomas, there’s still time for he and the Broncos to come to a happy medium.
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
