Sources: Dez Bryant gets 5-year, $70 million deal from Cowboys

by **GameDesigner14** » Jul 15, '15, 1:42 pm

Well he got what he wanted....now lets hope it doesn't blow up in their faces.

IRVING, Texas -- With the deadline less than an hour away, Dez Bryant and the Dallas Cowboys have agreed to a five-year, $70 million deal that will pay him an average $14 million per season, league sources told ESPN's Chris Mortensen.

Bryant's contract includes $45 million in guaranteed money. Under the franchise tender, he was set to make $12.8 million for the 2015 season but had threatened to miss training camp and some regular season games if he did not have a long-term in deal in place by the 4 p.m. ET deadline for franchise-tagged players to negotiate a multi-year contract.

Sources told ESPN's Todd Archer that the deal includes a $20 million signing bonus.

Specific language of the contract was not immediately available but Bryant was at the Cowboys facility to physically sign the deal as the Cowboys negotiators work with his contract representative, Tom Condon.

The Cowboys thought they were close to a long-term deal with Bryant last year that would have avoided the franchise-tag drama, but the talks fell apart and ultimately led to Bryant changing agents from Eugene Parker to Roc Nation and Condon.

Condon and Roc Nation's Kim Miale met with the Cowboys after the NFL scouting combine in February and again in late June, but those discussions didn't push them closer to a deal. As the deadline approached, Bryant let his feelings be known through social media.

In addition, a source told ESPN that the NFL Players Association promised to look into possible collusion between the Cowboys and Denver Broncos, who were negotiating a long-term deal with receiver Demaryius Thomas. According to the source, the union said it has credible information that the Cowboys and Broncos shared details of their negotiations with their respective receivers.

Ultimately, both sides got what they wanted all along: Bryant got his long-term security and the Cowboys secured the rights for one of the game's best receivers for multiple years.

It just took some time to get there.

Since being taken in the first round in 2010, Bryant has blossomed into one of the best receivers in the NFL. Off-field concerns before the draft allowed the Cowboys to select him with the 24th overall pick, and he had a few scrapes with the law his first few seasons, but the Cowboys have seen him mature on and off the field since.

In 2014, Bryant was named to the Pro Bowl for the second straight season -- but did not play in the game -- after posting 88 catches for 1,320 yards and a Cowboys single-season record 16 touchdown receptions.

Bryant nearly helped the Cowboys reach their first NFC Championship Game since 1995 with a fourth-down catch at the 1 late in the fourth quarter in a playoff game at Green Bay, only to see the grab controversially overturned by replay. Instead of having the chance for the go-ahead touchdown, the Cowboys never got the ball back and their season ended.

In five seasons with the Cowboys, Bryant has caught 381 passes for 5,424 yards and 56 touchdowns. No player in team history has more catches, yards or touchdowns than Bryant in the first five years of his career.

He became just the second Cowboy with three straight 1,000-yard, 10-touchdown-catch seasons, joining Terrell Owens, who did it from 2006 to '08. His 14 100-yard receiving games are tied for sixth in team history. He reached 50 career receiving touchdowns in 70 games, becoming the second-fastest player in team history to reach the feat -- Hall of Famer Bob Hayes did it in 66 games -- and the seventh fastest in NFL history.

Source: Espn.com