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Crisis Averted: Dez Bryant and Cowboys Agree on Mutually Beneficial Contract

By Reid Hanson

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If early details hold true, Dez Bryant and the Dallas Cowboys agreed on a contract today that appears to benefit both sides.

The Dallas Cowboys and Dez Bryant played hardball until the end, but both sides appear to have compromised in the final minutes leading up to today’s 3pm deadline. While we may never know the exact movement each side made, it appears to be a true, mutually beneficial deal.


Early reports said the Cowboys were only offering $20-$25M guaranteed. This laughable figure was never realistic, and it’s very likely Stephen, Jerry, and Will McClay knew as much. But these are negotiations and such is the nature of negotiations.

If a negotiation is quick and painless – then somebody must have lost

Dez Bryant was rumored to be looking for an equally staggering figure of $50M guaranteed, with the total deal looking like 7yrs/$110M. As reported, the two sides compromised on a 5yrs deal with $45M guaranteed, at a $70M total value.

The guaranteed portion is clearly lining up in Bryant’s favor, as the equivalent of 3+ years are guaranteed at a rate of $14M per season. Dez Bryant wanted security and Dez Bryant received security. What’s unknown at this point is if any behavioral items were included, protecting the Cowboys from off-the-field issues.

As I said yesterday:

"“Often overlooked in this high-pressure faceoff is the representation of Dez Bryant, Roc Nation. Dez, Thomas, AJ Green, and Julio Jones are all currently looking for new deals. Their respective agents are petrified to set a low bar, and are more inclined to follow someone else’s framework than set the parameter’s themselves, and subsequently face potential scrutiny as a result.”"

It should be no surprise, both Bryant and Thomas came to nearly identical agreements at the last moment. Amid rumors of collusion, the Broncos and Cowboys were able to finalize these deals with their respective star receivers. Finalizing them together helped both teams and both players’ representation feel at ease.

Both sides needed to move from their original stances in order to get this thing done. As I’ve said all summer, “If a negotiation is quick and painless – then somebody must have lost.” That clearly wasn’t the case here, as both sides made things equally uncomfortable for each other.

Now we hear talk that Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones had to insert himself to help get things done. I plead this morning in How the Dez Deal Gets Done, this process needed Jerry and Dez’s passion to take over –

"At the end of the day, for this deal to get done, Jerry and Dez need to be the men in front. Dez needs to tell his representation, he will settle for less than what they were hoping for. Jerry needs to tell Stephen, the Cowboys need to guarantee more than Stephen wants to include. Those two men are the only way an actual negotiation takes place.For the Cowboys, Stephen may be calling the shots, but Jerry still has final say. Stephen is going to play it smart. Jerry will play with passion. If the Cowboys seriously want to make a deal, passion will have to supplant a little bit of smarts."

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The total investment of the deal favors the Dallas Cowboys. The 26-year-old receiver will be playing a 5-year contract that will take him to the age of 31 – the age most receivers typically start to slow down. Early indication is that the deal is not back-loaded, and Bryant has a better-than-realistic chance of playing it out in its entirety (something Larry Fitzgerald and Calvin Johnson can’t say with the same confidence).

Most importantly, the deal calms an otherwise tense situation, and keeps one of the league’s top receivers in Dallas through the rest of Tony Romo’s career.

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