Cowboys & Dez Bryant Haven’t Had Any Meaningful Talks Regarding An Extension

According to Todd Archer of ESPN Dallas, the Cowboys and WR Dez Bryant have not had any meaningful contract talks this offseason.

Cowboys HC Jason Garrett confirmed that Bryant is “working on the business part of his contract.”

“He’s working on the business part of his contract, working through this franchise player tag,” coach Garrett said. “We’ve been in communication with him. He’s been in communication with his teammates. He seems to be in great shape whenever we’ve seen him but he’s not been here.”

Cowboys executive VP Stephen Jones previously offered an interesting reason for the delay in contract talks with Bryant, which is that the holdup has more to do with the market for solid young receivers slowing developing.

“I think a lot people want to naturally assume it’s a Dez Bryant-Cowboy issue. I think it’s a bigger issue than that right now,” Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said, via the Dallas Morning News. “There’s three or four young receivers in this league other than Dez that are going to be looking for long term contracts.”

Jones was referring to Bryant, Demaryius Thomas, Julio Jones and A.J. Green as the other young receivers in line for massive contract extensions.

“No one has been able to really figure out what they think the market should be,” Jones said. “I think ultimately we’ll get this done. No one wants to have Dez long term involved with the Dallas Cowboys more so than our organization, Jerry and myself. Our goal is to get it done, get it done long term, so we can move forward and let Dez continue to make all the great plays he’s made up until this point.”

Dallas used their franchise tag on Bryant a few months ago, which means they’re looking at paying him a salary of $12.823 million fully guaranteed for the 2015 season. A long-term extension would offer them some immediate cap relief, but all indications have been that the Cowboys are approaching this situation with a great deal of caution.

Bryant, 26, caught 88 passes for 1,320 yards receiving and 16 touchdowns over the course of ten games for Dallas last year. Pro Football Focus has Bryant rated as the No. 2 wide receiver in the league.