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Reports are that he left Cleveland without a deal. It's hard to believe that a 29 year old, 3 time Pro Bowl receiver would still be without a job as we enter the 2nd week of preseason games. All other things being equal, there's not many teams that Dez Bryant couldn't start for. Certainly our Seahawks would benefit greatly with a big #1 receiver the likes of which we've never had on our roster.

It has to be one of two things: Either Dez wants too much money or teams are wary of a potential locker room cancer.

If it is the latter, does it help, hurt, or have no effect on Colin Kaepernick's collusion case, ie that teams are reluctant to take on controversial players vs. black balling him due to his anthem protests?

AS Dallas has standing 'toe to the line' for the Anthem as a condition of employment, Dez certainly isn't a FA because of the so-called conspiriousy that has Kaep or Eric Reid dreaming of millions in a legal payoff that won't happen. They are going to lose this one. On the other hand, Dez is a idiot, plain and simple and if Cleveland wants that loser, far be it for any 'conspiracy' to stop his signing.

I think I can view the world like a 70 year old, very, very rich, white (and probably racist, to some extent), the typical team owner-- they don't need the NFL to conspire to whom I can and can't hire, especially when it comes to hiring a guy who made waves in the community and puts pro Castro on his chest and PIGS on his shoes. Screw him. Eric Reid probably wants too much $$$ along with being a jerk.

Conspiracy would have to involve the bulk of the 32 owners, most of the Coaches (some are black) most of the 32 GMs (some are black), 32 director's of player personnel (some are black) and multiple people from the NFL's own office (some are black). I can just imagine the conversation between Paul Allen and the Commish.

... Yeah, that's going to happen. NO conspiriousy, Kaep brought this on himself.

I think it is cost. Same issue as ET in my opinion. With the amount of talent coming out of college on rookie contract deals it is hard to justify the money that some of the older more prone to injury players.

idhawkman wrote:I think it is cost. Same issue as ET in my opinion. With the amount of talent coming out of college on rookie contract deals it is hard to justify the money that some of the older more prone to injury players.

ET's not a free agent and Dez is, so it's a little difficult to compare his situation with Bryant's.

But I agree with you in that at least part of the equation involves cost. Bryant would be a good option for a team that's a SB contender and a player or two away and Bryant almost certainly would have taken a pay cut to play for a contender, but probably has bumped his price to play for a team like the Browns. I do think that if he didn't have baggage that he'd have been signed by now. Can you imagine him playing for Rodgers or Brady?

My God - Ifedi is completely stationary. Unbelievable.

RiverDog wrote:
ET's not a free agent and Dez is, so it's a little difficult to compare his situation with Bryant's.

But I agree with you in that at least part of the equation involves cost. Bryant would be a good option for a team that's a SB contender and a player or two away and Bryant almost certainly would have taken a pay cut to play for a contender, but probably has bumped his price to play for a team like the Browns. I do think that if he didn't have baggage that he'd have been signed by now. Can you imagine him playing for Rodgers or Brady?

I didn't mean to put them in the exact same situation but yeah, there are some similarities. Both are looking for a new contract, both are top performers and deserve a good payday. That's about where it ends.

ET is not the malcontent that Dez is and that is the biggest difference in my opinion. I don't think Dez gets a contract that he deserves because of the explosive nature he portrays.

idhawkman wrote:ET is not the malcontent that Dez is and that is the biggest difference in my opinion. I don't think Dez gets a contract that he deserves because of the explosive nature he portrays.

The biggest difference is that one is under contract and the other isn't, but I get your point. I agree, a big part of the reason why Dez is unemployed is his potential to create a distraction, and if I'm a lawyer defending the league in a collusion lawsuit, I'd be using Dez's unemployment in my defense argument. Teams do not want to inherit a controversy.

RiverDog wrote:
The biggest difference is that one is under contract and the other isn't, but I get your point. I agree, a big part of the reason why Dez is unemployed is his potential to create a distraction, and if I'm a lawyer defending the league in a collusion lawsuit, I'd be using Dez's unemployment in my defense argument. Teams do not want to inherit a controversy.

But would that be collusion? I think it is 32 teams making an individual decision to focus more on the team aspect of the game and not the ME aspect of a single good player.

idhawkman wrote:But would that be collusion? I think it is 32 teams making an individual decision to focus more on the team aspect of the game and not the ME aspect of a single good player.

No, of course, it wouldn't be collusion. IMO what Dez's continued unemployment suggests, in relation to Kaepernick's lawsuit, is that it's not that teams are conspiring to mute Kaepernick and punish him because of his anthem stance, it's that they, in general, do not want to bring in a player that's going to generate controversy.