Dez Bryant isn’t subtle about his love for the Patriots

Subtlety isn’t Dez Bryant’s strong suit. If his social media activity is any indication, he’d love to sign a deal with the New England Patriots.

Dez Bryant is still looking for a team to play for in 2018, but he isn’t just sitting back waiting for the phone to ring. Instead, the former Cowboys wideout is using social media to flirt with the franchise he really wants to play for this season.

Bryant’s recent Instagram activity makes it clear he has a lot of love for the Patriots. He referred to Tom Brady as his “favorite player” in the same thread where he complimented Bill Belichick on his ability to craft football strategy. It’s not hard to see what Bryant is trying to do.

After leaving Cleveland without a deal with the Browns, he’s trying to drum up some interest from New England.

In fairness to Bryant, it isn’t the craziest idea in the world. Julian Edelman will miss the first four games of the season due to suspension and Jordan Matthews was released due to injury.

Belichick and Co. have already brought in Eric Decker to help soften those blows, but Bryant could be an upgrade.

In a strange way, Bryant could also give the Patriots insurance against another serious injury to Rob Gronkowski. If Gronk goes down the New England offense will need a physical slot receiver to exploit the middle of the field.

At this point in his career, that’s a better role for Bryant than trying to outrun defenders on the outside.

Of course, if Bryant really wants to land in New England he’s going to have to lower his contract demands.

The Browns already passed on signing him because of his insistence of a one-year contract that will allow him to earn big money in 2018 while maintaining the flexibility to hit the free agency market again next offseason.

The Patriots might be willing to give him either flexibility or a decent salary, but they won’t capitulate and give in to both demands.

Expect to see Bryant continue to enact this sort of social media flirtation until he finds a home. Perhaps next week he can hit the Broncos up on Tinder.