Former Cowboys Star Petitions for Roster Spot After Blowout

Dez Bryant

Getty Images Former Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and Dez Bryant.

It’s been five years since Dez Bryant suited up for the Dallas Cowboys but he still feels like he could help out his former squad.

Bryant was watching the Cowboys’ Sunday Night Football disaster against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which Dallas lost 19-3, struggling to put together any semblance of consistent offense. On top of that, quarterback Dak Prescott injured his hand and is expected to miss multiple weeks.

While in the game, Prescott struggled to get the passing attack going while relying on a mostly unproven group of receivers. Dallas’ top pass-catcher CeeDee Lamb notched 11 targets but snagged just two catches for 26 yards.

The idea of Dallas inking Bryant was initially pitched by former NFLer — and brief Cowboy — Datone Jones.

“No lie it won’t be a bad idea to bring Dez Bryant in,” Jones tweeted. “He would definitely wake the WR room up. [CeeDee] needs a mentor.”

That caught Bryant’s attention, who seemed to embrace the idea of being a veteran mentor for the young group of receivers.

“I wouldn’t even need to play,” Bryant tweeted. “I’ll guarantee they’ll have a different attitude towards the game.”


Bryant Has Been Out of Action for a While

Bryant is still a legend in Dallas thanks to a monster stretch from 2012-14 with the Cowboys. He notched three consecutive 1,000-yard plus and double-digit touchdown seasons, garnering All-Pro honors in 2014.

That being said, Bryant has caught just six passes since his final year with the Cowboys in 2017, all of those coming during a brief six-game stint with the Ravens in 2020. He wasn’t on a roster last season and hasn’t generated much interest lately.

Prior to the season with the Cowboys dealing with injuries at the wide receiver position, Bryant voiced a similar idea on returning to be a red zone option.

“I still think that I could be a red zone threat. I think that’s one of my specialties,” Bryant said during an appearance on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio. “I do think that I can still be a top red zone threat in the NFL, especially due to how we love to pass the ball in today’s game.”

That being said, Bryant is still fairly grounded in reality when it comes to any kind of future in the NFL — with the Cowboys or elsewhere.

“Even if I had the ability, if I felt like my mentality wasn’t right, I’ll walk away,” Bryant said. “I’m not trying to come back to the league and be some star, but be in a position where I can help, be in the locker room, help guys and whatever it is that they want to get help. I just like being in that atmosphere. I’ll just like talking to the guys about football and talk about things that we often get better on.”


Cowboys’ Unproven WRs Were Concern Heading Into Year

Heading into Week 1, the Cowboys knew they were lacking proven depth at wide receiver. Prescott, Lamb and the brass in Dallas said all the right things but it showed on the field Sunday against the Bucs.

Now with Prescott out, the lack of quality options in the passing game is an even larger concern as Cooper Rush takes the reins.

The Cowboys should be getting back Michael Gallup sooner than later, with the team exploring the idea of him playing in Week 1. However, a concern is that third-round pick Jalen Tolbert was a healthy scratch for the opener, with the team opting instead to go with undrafted rookie Dennis Houston.

There’s clearly a lot to sort out in Dallas but the Cowboys will have a chance to get on track as they face the Bengals next Sunday.

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