Where has Jerry Jones been thinking about a Dez Bryant return to Cowboys? The shower
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones hasn’t had to deal with receiver Dez Bryant since making him a salary-cap casualty before the 2018 season.
And he hasn’t talked to him much since then.
But he admits to thinking a lot about him lately and a possible return to the team in 2020 — in the most unusual of places.
“I have been thinking about it a lot in the shower,” said Jones as he pivoted from the where to the what. “I am not dismissing it. I am thinking about it.”
Bryant has not played in the NFL since his release. He signed with the New Orleans Saints in November of 2018 but suffered a torn Achilles tendon in practice. He did not play in 2019.
He now plans to resume his career and has expressed a desire to return to the Cowboys.
But, despite being the franchise’s all-time leader in touchdown receptions, why would Jones consider giving Bryant another shot at age 31?
“Because he is an outstanding player,” Jones said. “He has had a serious injury. He has been out a little bit. Dez is a great player. And the obvious is the obvious. Is he still a great player? We know Dez better than anybody. I know him better than — I’m going to say — anybody.”
Jones said Bryant’s contentious departure doesn’t give him any misgivings about bringing him back into the Cowboys’ locker room. Bryant partly blamed his release on bad mouthing he said he received from then-team captains Travis Frederick and Sean Lee.
“It didn’t end that way with me and him,” Jones said. “And it didn’t end that way with me. And I understand completely how things can end that way. I have seen those characteristics of people and organizations ending. But those are repairable. They really are. The very best of Dez is what I remember.”
Jones said the questions are: “Can Bryant perform? Can he overcome that injury? Can he get in the kind shape that it takes to be available?”
Again, Bryant is working hard to return and spent time in the last few weeks catching passes from Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
According to a source, the Cowboys plan to send scouting director Will McClay to one of Bryant’s workouts to evaluate him in the near future.
If Bryant does return, he could be sharing a locker room again with Lee, who was a second-round pick of the Cowboys in 2010, the same year that Bryant was selected in the first round.
Lee, 33, is a free agent but Jones said there is a role for the veteran linebacker on the team in 2020 as well.
Jones said it’s not about sentiment but how they can help the team win, if they return.
“Sean Lee does important things,” Jones said. “Dez has done important things. We are talking about the future. What counts is what about this year.”
This story was originally published February 27, 2020 at 7:43 PM.
