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There is still plenty of time before July 15, the deadline to get a long-term deal done, but it certainly does appear that the Dallas Cowboys are in no rush and are quite comfortable going into the 2015 season with their star receiver Dez Bryant playing under the franchise tag. While the main issue at this point may be whether or not Bryant has a security team with him at all times to help keep him out of trouble, there still lies a difference between the two sides in regards to the amount of guaranteed money he will get. And this is where the Denver Broncos‘ deal with Demaryius Thomas comes into play.
Currently, if both Thomas and Bryant sign the one-year franchise tag offer, they would both be tied for the second-highest paid receiver in the league. However, the issue with that from their perspective is that it would only be for one year and they would have no long-term protection in place if either one of them got injured this season.
As of right now, some of the highest paid receivers in the league include the Minnesota Vikings‘ Mike Wallace, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers‘ Vincent Jackson and the Arizona Cardinals‘ Larry Fitzgerald; and while all three are talented receivers, I think everyone would agree that both Thomas and Bryant are a level above each of them. The receivers I named are all currently under contract and each of them are guaranteed at least $22-27 million in their deals.
The one player I didn’t name was the league’s best receiver Calvin Johnson; he got a $113 million contract from the Detroit Lions with $48 million of it guaranteed. Now both Bryant and Thomas will be looking to get somewhere in between Johnson’s figure and that of Wallace’s $27 million, but what that exact number is, no one knows.
Denver’s head coach Gary Kubiak came out this week and stated that he felt confident in the fact that the team would agree to a long-term deal with Thomas before the season starts. If that’s the case, it could also wind up being the necessary catalyst to get Bryant’s deal done too. Jerry Jones and company cannot realistically expect Bryant to accept much less than what Thomas receives from the Broncos, so if they match that offer, this in all likelihood would lead to Bryant coming to some sort of compromise on the security detail the Cowboys so desperately want. It could also ultimately lead to him being a Cowboy for life.
Kelly Anderson is a blogger for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @bgipp01 or add him to your network on Google.
