Cowboys Officially Release WR Dez Bryant

Update:

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones released the following statement regarding the decision to release WR Dez Bryant.

“As an organization we hold Dez Bryant in the highest regard, and we are grateful for his passion, spirit and contributions to this team for the past eight years. He will always be a valued member of our family.

Dez and I share a personal and professional relationship that is very strong, and he is one of just a handful of players with whom I have become that close to over the past 30 years.

This was not an easy decision. It was made based upon doing what we believe is in the best interest of the Dallas Cowboys.

We arrived at this crossroad collectively with input from several voices within the organization. Ultimately we determined it was time to go in a new direction.”

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Ian Rapoport reports that the Cowboys have officially released WR Dez Bryant on Friday. According to Rapoport, Bryant and Jerry Jones had a short meeting in which he was informed of his release.

• Todd Archer reports that Bryant was not offered a pay cut and the Cowboys did not designate him as a post-June 1 release, which means Dallas picks up $8 million of cap space.
• According to Mickey Spagnola, Bryant said while walking out of the team’s facility that he’ll see the Cowboys twice this year, implying he could sign with an NFC East team.

Bryant has already tweeted that he’s ready to begin the free agent process:

let’s start the process #unbothered #ThrowUpTheX

— Dez Bryant (@DezBryant) April 13, 2018

Cowboy nation I need you to know this wasn’t my decision.. I will always love y’all… forever Dallas in my heart

— Dez Bryant (@DezBryant) April 13, 2018

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Adam Schefter and Todd Archer are reporting that the Cowboys are expected to release WR Dez Bryant during his meeting with owner Jerry Jones on Friday, barring a last-minute change of heart.

A team source tells Chris Mortensen: “I think we are moving on.”

It was clear that Bryant wasn’t going to return at his current salary and the possibility of a pay cut was tossed out as a potential solution for the two parties.

However, it looks like Dallas is ready to take the cap savings and move in a new direction.

The Cowboys did sign Allen Hurns and Deonte Thompson in free agency to bolster their receiver depth and you can expect Dallas to seriously consider taking a receiver high in this year’s draft, possibly at No. 19 overall.

If the Cowboys do, in fact, release Bryant, he would be the best available player and should have a decent market for his services over the next few weeks.

Bryant, 29, is a former first-round pick of the Cowboys back in 2010. He’s currently in the third year of his five-year, $70 million contract that included $45 million guaranteed and stands to make base salaries of $12.5 million over the final two years of the agreement.

According to OverTheCap.com, releasing Bryant will free up $8.5 million of available cap space while creating $8 million in dead money. If the Cowboys designate Bryant as a post-June 1 release, those figures improve to $12.5 million of cap savings and $4 million of dead money.

In 2017, Bryant has appeared in 15 games for the Cowboys and has caught 66 passes for 814 yards receiving and six touchdowns. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 45 receiver out of 116 qualifying players.