Sources: Cowboys have concerns in giving Dez Bryant big-money deal
Dallas Cowboys management has significant concerns about giving star wideout Dez Bryant a massive guarantee in a long-term contract based, in part, on off-field concerns with Bryant, multiple league sources told Yahoo Sports.
The Cowboys have assisted Bryant in dealing with anger management and related issues, including setting up sessions with behavioral specialists and therapists, according to sources familiar with the team's efforts and thinking. According to multiple sources, the Cowboys have made a number of contract offers to the wide receiver that provided him with meaningful financial guarantees, while providing protections for themselves if any off-field issues came to affect his ability to perform on the field.
For his part, Bryant has pushed for the Cowboys to give him a deal that is in line with the market for the game's elite wide receivers. In guaranteed money, Detroit's Calvin Johnson leads the pack with $48.75 million.
Bryant told reporters Sunday that he would be "highly disappointed" if he and the Cowboys couldn't reach an agreement on an extension and he was slapped with the franchise tag. Bryant is in the final season of his rookie deal that will pay him about $1.7 million. After parting ways with his former agent, Eugene Parker, last week, Bryant hired Jay Z's Roc Nation sports agency for representation.
The most widely reported behavioral issue Bryant dealt with was a domestic dispute between he and his mother in July of 2012. In that instance Bryant was arrested and charged with allegedly assaulting his mother, Angela, by grabbing her T-shirt and hair and hitting her across the face with a baseball hat. Charges in that matter were conditionally dismissed in November of 2012, according to the Dallas Morning News. Today, a spokesperson from the Dallas County District Attorney's office indicated that Bryant completed the terms of his conditional dismissal, but there "was still red tape holding up the paperwork" to close the file on the matter.
In wake of that incident, the Cowboys and Bryant reportedly agreed to a series of protective measures, including a security detail, and bans on alcohol use and strip club visits.
