There is a lot of talk among Cowboy fans regarding the fate of one Dez Bryant. Most have grown frustrated with the Star receiver due to his poor production since signing his $70 million dollar contract in 2014. Since he signed the lucrative deal he has failed to reach 1000 yards receiving or double digit touchdowns once. This has contributed to the popular opinion that the Cowboys should part ways with the star wide receiver but would this be a wise decision?
First and foremost, you can all but rule out a trade. It is unlikely that a team will spend more than a late round draft pick to take on Dez’s huge contract with his poor production over the last three years. The only realistic option would be to cut him outright but that would come at a hefty price. Dez Bryant counts $16 million dollars against the salary cap in 2018 but by cutting him the Cowboys would incur an $8 million dollar cap hit in “dead money”. That would leave the Cowboys with $8 million dollars to find a suitable #1 wide receiver to take his place. Is that enough money to secure a worthy replacement?
Last year there were a number of free agent wide receivers that earned new contracts. Among those in the $8 million dollar price range were Terrelle Pryor of the Washington Redskins, Kenny Britt of the Cleveland Browns and Kenny Stills of the Miami Dolphins. Pryor and Britt were both monumental failures and neither one will remain with the same team this year. Kenny Stills was serviceable for the Dolphins but still his production last season was almost identical to Dez Bryant’s so there is no improvement there.
| 2018 Season | Receiving Yards | TD |
| Dez Bryant | 838 | 6 |
| Kenny Stills | 847 | 6 |
Those that agree that free agency is not the answer may suggest that the NFL draft is the right opportunity to secure a replacement for Bryant but that might be a tad ambitious. Last year 3 WR’s were selected with the top 10 picks in the draft, Mike Williams (L.A Chargers), Corey Davis (Titans) and John Ross (Bengals). Those three players combined for 470 receiving yards and 0 TD last season, not the kind of immediate impact you would expect from such premium draft picks. In fact if you add up the production of every wide receiver drafted with a top 50 pick last year, their combined production does not match Dez Bryant’s. It is highly unlikely that a rookie wide receiver will burst onto the scene and out produce a player of Dez Bryant’s calibre.
Finally there is a strong contingent of fans that would prefer to give another receiver on the current roster a chance to replace Dez without exhausting valuable free agent dollars or premium draft picks. The most notable of those would be Brice Butler, who has expressed his frustration at not getting an opportunity to contribute in this offence. He is likely to move on if the Cowboys retain Dez Bryant for another year. While I liked what I saw from Brice Butler last season, I do not feel confident rolling with a guy that has never surpassed 300 receiving yards or 3 TD’s in a single season.
So where do we go from here? Dez he has certainly not lived up to his contract but to be fair a number of injuries and the loss of Tony Romo have had an impact on that. Perhaps this season he and Dak Prescott will finally get on the same page. Maybe the hiring of a new WR coach will not only rejuvenate Dez Bryant, but also Terrance Williams and Cole Beasley who are as much to blame for the struggling pass offense. The time is not right to abandon ship now. If there is no improvement next year, then by all means in 2019 (when the dead money hit to release Bryant will be only $4 million) Dallas should move on from #88. Until then, keep the faith and continue to throw up the “X”!
* Photo by Kieth Allison https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode
All statistics and data collected and verified through https://www.pro-football-reference.com/
2018 Draft: Drafting a Wide Receiver in Round 1 Not Ideal for Cowboys