It wasn't that long ago that the Dallas Cowboys and Dez Bryant seemed to be facing a plethora of insurmountable obstacles to hammering out a new long-term contract prior to Wednesday's 4 p.m. deadline for franchise tagged players to come to agreement on deals. Cowboys COO Stephen Jones suggested the two sides were facing a "wide gap" in talks as Bryant was reportedly seeking a deal that would pay him somewhere in the vicinity of the one signed by Calvin Johnson prior to the 2012 NFL season. Johnson, Bryant and Broncos franchise tagged receiver Demaryius Thomas' benchmark in negotiations, received a seven-year, $113.45 million deal from the Lions which carries $48.75 million in guarantees and came with a $16 million signing bonus.
While reports from early Wednesday painted a gloomy picture - that the Cowboys may not actually want to sign Dez prior to the deadline and were concerned over his behavior, both in the short and long-term - a new report suggests that things might, in fact, be much rosier.
From @Rand_Getlin & me: #Cowboys increased their offer to Dez Bryant beyond $13M, making a strong push. Bryant is more optimistic than ever
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 15, 2015
The fact that the Cowboys are upping their offer to north of $13 million per season seems to have piqued Bryant's interest.
But again, it's not the annual value of the deal that is said to be Bryant's main concern. The elite receiver tweeted in March that "$13 million is cool," but indicated that what he really desired was the security of a long-term deal with significant guaranteed dollars, which is where things start to stick.
The Cowboys are reportedly concerned over Bryant's off-the-field behavior and want to be able to find their way out of the deal should some type of significant personal issue put Bryant's NFL status or future in jeopardy.
Bryant, of course, has his sights set on guaranteed money that would make him one of, if not the, highest paid receiver in the league.
UPDATE, 2:15 PM: NFL.com's Ian Rapoport is reporting that the sides are making "real progress" and that "everyone" is now optimistic.
The #Cowboys are making real progress toward a long-term deal with Dez Bryant. Everyone, it appears, it optimistic now.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 15, 2015
