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The fact that Dez Bryant didn’t show up to minicamp this week wasn’t really much of a surprise to anyone — especially considering the fact that he has threatened to sit out the regular season opener against the New York Giants this September. What also shouldn’t come as a surprise is the fact that the Dallas Cowboys‘ brass hasn’t felt the need to respond to his absence by reopening negotiations.
If you have followed the Cowboys at all over the years, they are known for waiting until the last minute to sign their players to any deal, whether it’s a rookie contract, a contract extension or simply a new deal. The lone exceptions to this are at the quarterback position, as neither Troy Aikman nor Tony Romo really had to fight over a deal. Romo had to wait a bit to receive first major contract in 2007 but even that was something that was done before the offseason arrived and he really hasn’t had to worry about being one of the highest paid at his position since then.
The Cowboys like to wait until the last minute to work out deals because it doesn’t allow any time for posturing or negotiating through the media. This is why they always wait until right before minicamp or sometimes even training camp before signing their first-round draft picks; it takes all of the emotion out of play and just gets down to business. And if you have been paying attention at all, this is exactly what will happen with Bryant.
Bryant and his agent can threaten to miss games all they want, because honestly that’s the only leverage they have at this point. And if all Bryant ever really cared about was himself, then his missing a regular season game would be a real threat that the team would have to take under consideration at some point, but anyone who knows him knows that he will not let his team down by missing any games that matter. So in reality all Bryant and his camp can do at this point is wait for the Cowboys to come to them with another offer.
Stephen Jones, the Cowboys’ vice president, has said that he wants to get a deal done before the July 15 deadline, but that doesn’t mean that he wants one done today. Just based off of their history alone, they will wait until the final week to actually come to the table with a serious offer to Bryant, and the fact that no one, including former Cowboys players, has come up to reassure him of this is astonishing.
Super agent Tom Condon has been successful with his unique strategies in this past, but what he must realize is that Jerry Jones and the Cowboys are a different breed and they must be treated as such. All he and Byrant can do at this point is wait until they get closer to the deadline, and I am sure they will get what they have wanted all along.
Kelly Anderson is a blogger for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @bgipp01 or add him to your network on Google.
