Cowboys Coach Jason Garrett Says Dez Bryant Isn't On The Way Out
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett stated that the team did not add Allen Hurns and Deonte Thompson to replace Dez Bryant.
"We love Dez," Garrett said Tuesday at the NFL meetings. "Dez has been a great player for us for a long time. Any speculation about his contract or anything like that is irrelevant to the signings we made."
Bryant has a base salary of $12.5 million this season and counts $16.5 million against the salary cap. The three-time Pro Bowl receiver had 69 catches for 838 yards and six touchdowns while playing all 16 games in 2017. He has not had 1,000 yards receiving since he was an All-Pro in 2014.
The Cowboys could be looking to give him a pay cut. Hurns and Thompson give them more options.
Hurns had 189 receptions for 2,669 yards and 21 touchdowns in four seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He caught just 74 passes for 961 yards and five scores the past two years while dealing with a sports hernia in 2016 and a high ankle sprain in 2017.
Thompson has 77 catches for 1,032 yards and four touchdowns in five seasons for Baltimore, Buffalo and Chicago.
The 29-year-old Bryant has been one of the league's elite receivers for most of his eight seasons in Dallas.
"The offseason program starts in the middle of April and we anticipate Dez and everybody else being there," Garrett said. "Any speculation about his contract doesn't apply to the football part of Dez Bryant. He's been a great player and we anticipate having great competition at the receiver position and Dez being a part of it."
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