An article was written today by Jean-Jacques Taylor of ESPN Dallas about Dez Bryant and why the Cowboys are still a bit reluctant to give him a long-term contract.
The article isn’t biased or Dez bashing, just speaks to the reality of the situation. The situation being that while Dez hasn’t gotten into any trouble lately, the Cowboys would feel better about handing him a bunch of guaranteed money if he had a support system in place to their liking. You can agree or disagree with the Cowboys thinking, but this isn’t the first time a report like this has come out.
Here is a portion of the story.
The Cowboys will tell you privately the “Dez Rules” had a lot to do with Bryant staying out of trouble because they created parameters of behavior.
The “Dez Rules” were a set of 11 rules that went into effect formally Aug. 23, 2012. They were designed, primarily, to make certain Bryant completed all the requirements from the district attorney’s office to ensure his family-violence misdemeanor would be dismissed instead of upgraded to a felony.
The rules, formalized in a multi-page document Bryant signed, were recommendations of behavior ranging from attending two counseling sessions a week for a year to no negativity on social media.
The Cowboys needed to know Bryant’s location at all times, and the receiver had a three-man security detail assigned to him that worked in 16-hour shifts for a year.
Bryant no longer needs to have those types of restrictions in his private life. He’s a 26-year-old father of three, which is why virtually all of the rules have been relaxed or eliminated over the last three years, according to team sources.
But Bryant is the same guy who went on a loud profanity-laced tirade through the club’s Valley Ranch training facility last December upon discovering a reporter was working on a story about his life off-the-field.
Those rare but explosive moments make the Cowboys queasy because they can occur quickly, like a summer squall.
The Cowboys would prefer David Wells to be involved in Bryant’s off-the-field structure because of their long-term familiarity with him. Wells was Bryant’s long-term advisor who was hired to help keep Bryant on the straight and narrow off the field.
For their part, the Cowboys don’t care if Bryant or Roc Nation hires someone else to create the off-the-field structure the Cowboys want in place. They just want a person located in Dallas to handle anything Bryant needs at a moment’s notice, teams sources and a source close to Bryant said.
Seems fair enough and throughout the article it is pointed out all the positive things Dez has done over the past couple of years on and off the field.
Dez didn’t take to the article very well and tweeted his frustrations almost immediately after the article was posted.
Dez implies Taylor wrote the story because Dez doesn’t want Wells to be his adviser anymore, but Taylor disputes that claim by pointing out facts in his own article.
Pretty sure this isn't about Wells, it's about you. U say a dude is worth $38M guaranteed it sounds like pos 2 me https://t.co/QlehsRGu1W
— Jean-Jacques Taylor (@JJT_ESPNDallas) May 11, 2015
Pretty sure I wrote the cowboys don't care who @DezBryant pays to put an off the field structure in place as long as he pays someone 2 do it
— Jean-Jacques Taylor (@JJT_ESPNDallas) May 11, 2015
Dez won’t be happy until he gets his long-term contract, but in this particular case the article didn’t say anything bad about him just pointed out what everyone knows, that the Cowboys simply don’t trust him at this time.