Stephen Jones: “Wide Gap” Between Cowboys, Dez Bryant

With less than a month until the deadline for the Dallas Cowboys to get a long-term deal with Dez Bryant done, the two sides remain very far apart, according to Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones.

Jones’s comments, in an appearance on SiriusXM NFL Radio on Tuesday, come on the heels of Bryant’s agent, Tom Condon, publicly declaring that his client is serious about potentially sitting out regular season games. Also the team’s COO, Jones says both sides want to get a deal done, but the murkiness of the current wide receiver market has kept them at a distance.

“I’m not a good speculator, but I will say this is the tough side of our game--the side that the fans don’t probably love to talk about,” Jones said, via the team’s website. “But there is a business side of it, and we’re doing what we can do, our goal ultimately being to sign Dez to a long-term contract--and I know Dez would like to have one. But this is an environment right now with a receiver market that’s not exactly easy to get your hands around.

“... I don’t think anyone quite knows what that market is, and that makes it difficult. I think once we figure out what that is, then there’s a way for us to get something done with Dez. But until that happens, it’s what teams think versus what players and their representatives think. There’s a wide gap right now.”

Bryant has made appearances at Valley Ranch this offseason to work out and be around his teammates, but he’s staying away from this week’s mandatory mini-camp--which isn’t really mandatory for him, since he hasn’t signed his franchise tender yet.

“At the end of the day it’s a business, and when the time comes and there’s something that we can do that makes sense for both sides, I know that’ll happen--because they’re motivated to do it, we’re motivated to do it," Jones said. "But right now there’s just too big a divide.”