Browns Still Interested In Dez Bryant, Talks Ongoing

Mike Silver of NFL Media reports that the Browns are still interested in free agent WR Dez Bryant and talks are going between the two parties.

According to Silver, the return of Josh Gordon has “no impact” on their interest in Bryant and they believe he still hasn’t dropped off as a player.

Silver adds that Cleveland wants to add as many weapons to their offense as possible before the season.

Browns HC Hue Jackson previously mentioned that Gordon’s return doesn’t impact whether they’ll sign Bryant to a contract.

“No, I think one has nothing to do with the other in my opinion,” Jackson said, via Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “Again, things will unfold as they will. The most important thing we know is that Josh is here, and again, we’ve had a good conversation with Dez and until he’s a Cleveland Brown, I can only worry about the guys that are on this football team.”

However, one report mentioned that Bryant is “no longer on the front burner.”

Bryant reportedly turned down a three-year, $21 million offer from the Ravens after he was released a few months ago. Since then, the market has been very slow-moving for Bryant, so it shouldn’t come as a big surprise to hear that he may end up waiting another month or so before signing.

Bryant, 29, is a former first-round pick of the Cowboys back in 2010. He was in the third year of his five-year, $70 million contract that included $45 million guaranteed and was set to make base salaries of $12.5 million over the final two years of the agreement when Dallas released him in a move that freed up $8.5 million of available cap space.

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.

We have him featured in our Top 50 Available 2018 NFL Free Agents list.