Dez Bryant wants to play for Giants, but do Giants want Dez?
The Dez Bryant saga is going to consume us for the next few months, unless and until he signs with an NFL team. And the off-from-his-peak-but-still-probably-pretty-productive receiver clearly isn’t going to sit patiently and wait for offers to roll in; he’s going to stoke the flames wherever he can.
This week’s thought exercise: Dez Bryant, New York Giant. Could it happen? Sure, and Bryant would love it. Will it happen? Almost certainly not, but we’ll get to that in a minute.
As 24/7 Sports notes in a thorough rundown of possible destinations for Bryant, the Giants hit several of Bryant’s key requirements. First, Bryant wants the move to be “special,” and jumping to a longtime rival would indeed be special. Second, he needs a reliable QB to deliver the ball, and Eli Manning still qualifies.
And third? Well, there’s the matter of the schedule: “I’m kinda hoping it’s an NFC East team,” Bryant said, per 24/7 Sports. “If it’s somewhere else, that’s fine. But I’d like to play the Cowboys twice.” The Eagles, coming off that Super Bowl win, have no need to add Bryant; the Redskins, as always a question mark, wouldn’t present much of a win-now opportunity.
Bryant delved deep into the third NFC East possibility: “The Giants,” Bryant said, “got a helluva defense, they’re going to pay OBJ (Odell Beckham Jr.), so (he’s) coming back. Playing with him, Sterling (Shepard) … the tight end (Evan Engram), (QB Eli) Manning? Crazy!” Add Saquon Barkley with the No. 2 pick, Bryant said, playing draft guru, and the Giants would indeed be an attractive destination.
Of course, the Giants have a say in this matter too, and the idea of a team adding Dez Bryant to a roster that already features OBJ, and one that’s in transition from legacy players like Manning to newcomers like whoever that No. 2 pick will be, doesn’t exactly make a whole lot of sense. Plus, as Pro Football Talk notes, the Giants are among the least financially flexible teams in the NFL, with less than $5 million in cap space available … and that’s before re-signing Beckham.
So, Dez to New York probably isn’t going to happen … but that possibility, and 30 others, will continue to float through the NFL ether for some time to come.
____
Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.
