Cowboys & Dez Bryant Making “Real Progress,” Optimism A Deal Could Get Done

Update:

Adam Schefter reports that Dez Bryant is on his way to the Cowboys’ facility. Schefter assumes that the two sides can put the finishing touches on a long-term contract extension ahead of the deadline.

• According to Schefter, the two sides still have  minor points to be worked out and the sense right now is that a deal will get done.

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Ian Rapoport is now reporting that the Cowboys are making “real progress” towards an agreement on a long-term deal with franchise WR Dez Bryant. 

According to Rapoport, everyone is now “optimistic” that a deal could be in place before the deadline, which is just a few hours away.

A source tells David Moore of the Dallas Morning News that the Cowboys are “closing in on a long-term deal” with Bryant. However, nothing has been agreed to at this point in time.

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Pro Football Talk reports that the Cowboys’ improves offer to Dez Bryant is “still not great” according to his representatives. PFT puts the odds of a deal getting down in the coming hours at “less than 50-50.”

Meanwhile, Charean Williams reports that there’s optimism at Valley Ranch that a deal with Bryant gets done right at the deadline.

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Ian Rapoport and Rand Getlin of NFL Media are reporting that the Cowboys have upped their offer to WR Dez Bryant to over $13 million per year.

Dallas is reportedly making a “strong push” to sign Bryant to an extension and he’s “more optimistic than ever” that a deal could get done.

Last night, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported that the Cowboys are expected to include “broad language” in their offer to Bryant that would void future fully-guaranteed payments in the event he’s arrested, incarcerated, or even detained by police.

Sources told Florio that Dallas has already added this language to the contracts of first-round pick DB Byron Jones and fellow rookie OL La’El Collins.

With the deadline to negotiate with franchise players coming tomorrow afternoon, Florio mentions that it would not be surprising to see Dallas make one last at locking Dez up and offering him a deal that would be “hard for him to reject.”

Last we heard regarding the Cowboys’ offer to Bryant, they were to pay him $12.8 million per year, so it appears as though they are making an earnest attempt to get an agreement in place before the deadline.

Bryant, 26, received the Cowboys franchise tag a few months ago and stands to make a salary of $12.823 million fully guaranteed for the 2015 season.

In 2014, caught 88 passes for 1,320 yards receiving and 16 touchdowns over the course of 16 games for Dallas last year. Pro Football Focus has Bryant rated as the No. 2 wide receiver in the league.

We’ll have more regarding Bryant and the Cowboys as the news is available.