NFL 2018 free agency is getting into full swing. The legal tampering period has lead to some big deals being agreed to, including the Chiefs swiping Anthony Hitchens from Dallas.
Among the other big moves (at this moment) are Sammy Watkins agreeing to terms with the Kansas City Chiefs and Allen Robinson doing so with the Chicago Bears. These are the two biggest wide receivers on the market, and the Cowboys have had a question about Dez Bryant.
Why does this involve Dallas? Because multiple resources have reported that the Cowboys were interested in both free agent receivers, especially Sammy Watkins
Hearing a bunch of teams were in on Watkins, including Dallas, Chicago and Jacksonville
— Terez A. Paylor (@TerezPaylor) March 13, 2018
The #Cowboys dipped their toe in the WR market, but didn’t sign Allen Robinson or Sammy Watkins. That is likely a good sign for Dez Bryant. https://t.co/PZcCOtteAg
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 13, 2018
A lot of Cowboys fans were uneasy, though. Why did Dallas have interest in Sammy? The Chiefs ultimately landed him on a three-year $48M deal, there’s no way they were going to pay that to somebody to serve as a complement to Dez, right?
If those were your initial inclinations, it seems that ESPN’s Todd Archer has corroborated them for you. After someone floated the notion of pairing Sammy with Dez, Todd came back with a bit of a stunner.
It wasn't going to be a 'pair with Dez' situation. https://t.co/mapmuEYgNm
— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) March 13, 2018
The Dallas Cowboys theoretically preferred Sammy Watkins over Dez Bryant?
That’s an interesting development. It was also reported that Jerry Jones and Dez Bryant recently had a sit down.
#Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and WR Dez Bryant did have their much-anticipated conversation prior to the league year beginning, sources tell me and @SlaterNFL. They have not reached out to his agent Kim Miale on doing any alterations to his contract. His standing hasn’t changed.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 13, 2018
Will things change now that Dallas has shown interest in a theoretical Dez replacement?
The possibility that Dez Bryant could be released is still real, but it’s just as possible that he stays. What’s apparent now more than ever is that the Cowboys might actually be settling for Dez, at least in their own eyes.
Given what receivers like Watkins and Allen Robinson are getting on the open market, many are starting to think that Dez might not be too drastically overpaid after all.
The big deals for Sammy Watkins and Allen Robinson will have no bearing on the Cowboys decision with Dez Bryant's contract, per source
— Clarence Hill Jr (@clarencehilljr) March 13, 2018
Maybe the Cowboys feel that way and will ultimately just leave things as is, or maybe they’ll move on.
It certainly looks like they’re heavily considering it.