Not looking like an elite WR, not living up to expectations: What should Cowboys do with Dez Bryant?
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Ashley Landis/Staff Photographer
Players react after Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant (88) fumbles the ball during the second quarter of a Christmas Eve NFL game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, December 24, 2017 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. (Ashley Landis/The Dallas Morning News)
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Brandon George, Staff Writer Contact Brandon Georgeon Twitter
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Editor's note: Scroll to the bottom of this post to vote on what you'd do with the WR.
ARLINGTON — The Cowboys have an interesting question to ponder in the offseason. Are they getting their money's worth from receiver Dez Bryant?
On Sunday, in a game the Cowboys had to win to keep their playoff hopes alive, Bryant had one of his worst performances of his eight-year career.
Bryant lost a fumble in the second quarter that led to Seattle's first touchdown and then dropped a pass in the third quarter that deflected in the air for an interception. That killed a Cowboys' drive and the turnover led to another Seahawks' touchdown.
Bryant had two dropped passes Sunday
to give him a team-high 12 on the season.
As has been the case for most of the season, when things don't go Bryant's way he disappears. By the time the locker room opened up after the loss to Seattle, Bryant had already cleared out his locker and was gone.
Bryant looks nothing like an elite receiver any more. And that's surprising considering Cowboys executives were optimistic going into the year that Bryant was set to return to his Pro Bowl form because he was finally healthy.
Ever since the Cowboys signed Bryant to a five-year, $70 million contract extension in July 2015 he hasn't lived up to expectations.
The three seasons prior to Bryant's extension he averaged 5.9 catches, 85.5 yards and 0.89 touchdowns a game.
Since Bryant cashed in on his big deal, he's averaging 4 catches for 54.7 yards and 0.47 touchdowns a game the last three seasons.
The Cowboys structured Bryant's contract extension in a way that they could move on from him after 2017 with relatively little pain.
All of Bryant's $45 million in guaranteed money on his extension has already been paid to him. The Cowboys could release Bryant and only be on the books for about $8 million in dead money. But who would replace Bryant? Terrance Williams hasn't shown he's ready to be a No. 1 receiver.
More likely, the Cowboys could approach Bryant about taking a pay cut in the offseason. They owe Bryant a base salary of $12.5 million in each of the next two seasons with a salary cap hit each year of $16.5 million.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was asked if he has a tough decision to make in the offseason about the future of Bryant.
"I don't even want to visit with that," Jones said. "We have a lot of respect for all the good things that Dez brings. He's come a long way and made some serious positive contributions to the team. I wouldn't today get into any prognosis or evaluation or prediction about what we're doing with a player other than the fact that you can look at their agreements and their contracts and know that we have them on the team."
Through two seasons, Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and Bryant have yet to develop the same chemistry that Bryant had with Tony Romo.
Bryant has only 63 catches this season on 124 targets. He doesn't have a 100-yard receiving game or a multiple-touchdown game. For long stretches of games, Bryant has been a non-factor. At other times, Prescott has tried to force feed Bryant and that's led to costly mistakes.
With Ezekiel Elliott back from his six-game suspension Sunday, Bryant was expected to get plenty of chances with the Seahawks cramming the line of scrimmage to slow the run.
But that never materialized.
And the Cowboys now must decide what to do with Bryant come 2018.
