Jerry Jones may have no other choice in the matter but he is not happy about potentially having to use the franchise tag on unrestricted free agent receiver Dez Bryant.
The Dallas Cowboys enjoyed their best season in five years when they won 12 games en route to the NFC East division crown and won their first playoff game since 2009. But repeating their success in 2015 hinges on the contract status of free agents DeMarco Murray and Dez Bryant.
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Using the franchise tag is an option for one of them if the team is unable to come to terms on a long-term deal, but Cowboys owner and general manager, Jerry Jones isn’t too happy about having to do so.
“I can tell you I’m not that excited about the franchise tag with Dez simply because I’d like to have our agreement and our business in place for a long time to come with Dez,” Jones said, via ESPN’s Todd Archer.
The franchise tag is the worst-case scenario for Bryant who is the priority over Murray, but using the tag isn’t popular with the players who don’t get the years of security or for the front office who want to give him that security.
Bryant led the NFL with 16 receiving touchdowns and had 88 receptions for 1,320 yards.
Tagging Bryant would give him a one-year deal worth $12.8 million that would severely limit the amount of available salary cap room to get Murray under contract. Murray led the NFL in rushing and carries in 2014 with 1,848 yards on 392 carries, but the team could have their hand forced if Bryant is tagged.
It is a lose-lose proposition, because Murray would likely sign elsewhere with Dallas not having the cap room to give him the type of deal he can command after leading the league in rushing and Bryant is going to skip offseason workouts as is customary for disgruntled franchised players.
“I want to emphasize again — it’s not really set up in our best interest at all,” Jones said. “There’s a much better way for our future and our cap this year if we didn’t franchise, but this is here when you don’t have your meeting of the minds about how you want to structure something long term.”
The team has a March 2 deadline to tag Bryant but in the meantime they will work toward an agreement. The sooner they come to an agreement on a new deal, the sooner they can make Murray the priority and work on getting him under contract so the Cowboys can make another run at the NFC East and the Super Bowl.
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