Fansided

Aaron Rodgers says what we’re all thinking re: Packers and Dez Bryant

By Michelle Bruton

CHARLOTTE, NC - DECEMBER 17: Aaron Rodgers #12 of the Green Bay Packers warms up before their game against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium on December 17, 2017 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NC - DECEMBER 17: Aaron Rodgers #12 of the Green Bay Packers warms up before their game against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium on December 17, 2017 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
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The Green Bay Packers and Dez Bryant have been linked in the NFL free agency rumor mill as of late, but even Aaron Rodgers doesn’t think the move would make much sense.

Nearly six weeks after the Dallas Cowboys cut wide receiver Dez Bryant, he remains one of the biggest names available on the free-agent market.

The Green Bay Packers, who cut a receiver themselves this offseason in longtime veteran Jordy Nelson, have been one of the teams linked to Bryant in recent weeks. But for the Packers to actually move forward and sign Bryant would be a head-scratcher, and Aaron Rodgers seems to agree.

“I don’t know why you’d cut Jordy and bring in Dez, but he’s a talented player,” Rodgers said Tuesday, after the portion of OTA practice open to the media. “He’s going to end up somewhere. If he ends up here, we’d obviously welcome him with open arms.”

The second part of Rodgers quote is exactly what you’d expect to hear from a seasoned professional. It’s calculated, it’s media-speak, it’s noncommittal.

But the first part reflects what a large portion of Packers fans have been thinking since Bryant’s name first began being uttered in the same breath as the Packers.

By all accounts, Green Bay released Nelson to clear cap space — about $10.2 million, to be exact — which they then used to bring in tight end Jimmy Graham and defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson.

It was a business decision, and though the team restocked the receiving corps in the draft with Missouri’s J’Mon Moore, USF’s Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Notre Dame’s Equanimeous St. Brown, releasing Nelson also broadcast that the Packers were comfortable with their group led by Davante Adams and Randall Cobb and supported by Geronimo Allison and Trevor Davis.

Sure, in a vacuum, could the Packers use a bonafide No. 3 (or even No. 2) wideout to push that corps over the top? Of course. But Bryant’s price tag makes no sense for a team that values youth at this position. Spotrac estimates Bryan’t market value at $9.4 million, a hair below what Nelson was owed.

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Right now, it doesn’t seem like many suitors are willing to pay that. The Packers shouldn’t be willing to even come close.

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