Dez Bryant hasn’t been shy about his desire to play in the NFL again. Bryant, a former All-Pro receiver for the Cowboys, recently posted a video of himself running routes as he looks to get back into the NFL after sitting out the entire 2019 season. Bryant, who was released by the Cowboys after the 2017 season, has not played an NFL down since leaving Dallas. He hasn’t been on an NFL roster since tearing his Achilles tendon two days after signing with the Saints midway through the 2018 season. The 31-year-old Bryant is interested in re-joining the Cowboys, a team that went 8-8 last season while missing the playoffs for the second time in three years. On Thursday, Cowboys vice president Stephen Jones said that Bryant has recently reached out him.
“He has texted me that he would like to come back,” Jones said, via Clarence Hill Jr. of the Forth Worth Star-Telegram. “We have nothing but great respect for Dez and what he accomplished here. Certainly, as we look forward into the future we look at all opportunities and all potential players that could maybe help us out.”
While he didn’t rule out re-signing Bryant at some point, it also doesn’t appear that Bryant is in the Cowboys’ immediate plans. Dallas already has a solid receiving corps that includes Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup and Randall Cobb. Cooper, acquired via a trade with the Raiders in 2018, made the Pro Bowl last season after leading the Cowboys with 79 catches for 1,189 yards and eight touchdowns. However, Cooper is set to become a free agent this offseason if the Cowboys don’t first use the franchise tag on him or re-sign their No. 1 wide receiver to a long-term contract extension.
Gallup, a third-round pick in the 2018 draft, emerged as a formidable No. 2 option in 2019, catching 66 passes for 1,107 yards and six touchdowns. Cobb, who signed with the Cowboys last season after eight seasons with the Packers, caught 55 passes for 828 yards and three touchdowns during his first season with the team.
If the Cowboys do need depth at the receiver position at some point down the line, Bryant could certainly be an option, assuming that he is healthy and ready to take on the physical toll that games with being an NFL receiver. And while he is no longer a No. 1 option, Bryant recently said via Twitter that he would embrace a complementary role.
“I want to be a part of a team where I’m not the focal point,” Bryant wrote on Thursday. “I have no problem not being the main guy… .I bet I do damage.”
Bryant did plenty of damage to opposing defenses from 2012-14, when he caught 38 touchdowns while earning Pro Bowl honors in 2013 and All-Pro honors in 2014. In 2016, he helped then rookie quarterback Dak Prescott emerge as a Pro Bowl-caliber quarterback, catching eight touchdown passes from Prescott that season while earning another trip to the Pro Bowl.
Will Bryant get another shot with the Cowboys? Only time will tell.
