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Latest On Dez Bryant

April 14th, 2018 at 9:08am CST by Ben Levine

There are four teams that “some believe could show varying levels of interest” in wideout Dez Bryant, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter). This grouping includes the Cardinals, Ravens, Bills, and Packers.

The reporter notes that Arizona’s main issue is related to money, as the team is sitting with little cap room. Kent Somers of AZCentral Sports echoes that sentiment (via Twitter), saying the Cardinals won’t pursue Bryant unless he’s willing to take a lesser contract. On the flip side, Schefter observes that the Ravens still have plenty of space, even after having signed receiver Michael Crabtree. Meanwhile, the Packers could be looking for a big-play wideout to replace Jordy Nelson, while the Bills could be looking for a dynamic receiver to pair with Kelvin Benjamin.

The three-time Pro Bowler was released by Dallas yesterday. No teams have definitively been connected to the 29-year-old, although Bryant indicated that he’d like to play for one of the Cowboys’ NFC East foes.

Let’s take a look at some other notes pertaining to the NFL’s newest star free agent…

  • ESPN’s Mike Triplett believes the Saints could be a “dark horse contender” for Bryant. New Orleans has focused on improving their receiving core, but they missed out on offseason targets like Nelson and tight end Jimmy Graham. The Saints aren’t armed with a lot of salary cap space, so they’re presumably in a similar situation to the Cardinals. However, there’s no denying that Bryant would provide Drew Brees with another impressive target.
  • Bryant was under the impression that some of his teammates and coaches had it out for him, and he believes the lack of support ultimately played a role in his release. “I’m not here to bash anybody, but they know, man,” Bryant told Jane Slater of NFL Network (via Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk.com). “They know. They know. The way this whole situation got handled, I felt like I asked some of them to be a man about some of the situations a long time ago, and they couldn’t…I won’t put no names out, but they know, and I want them to know on this air I know. I’ll shoot them a text message and let them know. Little do they know is they can wear that ‘C’ [for captain] all they want to, but in that locker room, they know who they run and they talk to. They know who they communicate with. Everybody know where the real love is at, and I’m not throwing anybody under the bus, but that’s the difference between me and them.” Williams notes that last season’s captains were Jason Witten, Dak Prescott, Dan Bailey, Tyrone Crawford, Sean Lee and Orlando Scandrick.
  • Meanwhile, ESPN.com’s Todd Archer attributes Bryant’s release to “his falling production and “fiery” personality.” As the reporter notes, the “cracks in the relationship” started earlier this offseason, when Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones criticized the receiver’s sideline outbursts. When you couple the attitude with a drop in production, Archer says organizations will have “a difficult time looking the other way.”
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