Source: Dez Bryant has been released by the Dallas Cowboys

It was only three years ago that Dallas Cowboys fans were still losing sleep over how Dez Bryant had caught it and a marvelous 2014 season had been cut too short.

A reincarnated version of the Cowboys triplets served as the troika of that season: Tony Romo, DeMarco Murray, and Dez Bryant.

DeMarco left that subsequent free agency period to the Philadelphia Eagles. Tony Romo retired two years later after being replaced by Dak Prescott. Three years after the fact, Dez Bryant has been released according to sources.

Whether Dez Bryant would stay or go has been the topic of the offseason, and it seems like the Dallas Cowboys felt that moving on was what was in the best interest of the club. They’ve shown plenty of interest in receivers this offseason signing Deonte Thompson and Allen Hurns, not to mention they tried to land Sammy Watkins and also expressed interest in Jeremy Maclin.

Dez became the franchise’s all-time leader in receiving touchdowns back on November 30th when the Cowboys defeated the Washington Redskins. He would only catch one more in the blue and silver, doing so the next week on the road in a win against the New York Giants.

Dez Bryant has been one of the biggest faces of the Cowboys in the post-Triplets era. He provided many highlights and had one of the most incredible stretches from 2012 to 2014.

A passing of the torch happened throughout the 2016 season when the Cowboys swapped Dak Prescott in for Tony Romo, but with the departure of Dez, this really and truly is the end of an era. We’re dealing with new kids and Jason Witten now.

We hadn’t seen Dez Bryant really be the same player since he did catch it at Lambeau Field three years ago. The NFL acknowledged this offseason that it was indeed a catch, and subsequently Dez was released. It’s a Shakespearean tragedy.

Here’s to Dez Bryant. Taken in the first round eight years ago and carried the #88 torch valiantly.