Cowboys VP: Reality of NFL's Deadline Led to the Dez Deal

Stephen Jones says Wednesday's deadline was a major factor in the Cowboys finally coming to an agreement with Dez Bryant

For most of us on the outside of Valley Ranch looking in, Wednesday’s deadline for the Dallas Cowboys to get a long-term deal done with Dez Bryant looked like something to be vaguely feared. If it came and passed with no deal, Bryant said he “wouldn’t be there,” presumably meaning that he would stay away from training camp and regular season games.

But in the end, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones told 105.3-FM The Fan this week, it was the deadline that led to the deal--all the ugliness that led up to the deadline notwithstanding.

I’d say at the end of the day it’s all about a timeline. That’s what pushes everybody to a place probably they’re uncomfortable to go to, and I’d say that in all due respect to both sides, but I think obviously deadlines cause things to happen, and I think in this case, that’s exactly what happened,” Jones said, via the Dallas Morning News. “We had a number that we had strategized over for probably weeks, and really getting our hands around how the number would affect us, not only this year but over the next five years.

“Who that would affect and as we went up, would that cause us to make moves that we did or didn’t make, and we ultimately came up with a number also knowing that if we got close, there would probably be a little stretch factor in there if you really felt like something would get it done that you might even want to stretch even further than you were totally comfortable with.”

With just around a half hour left until the deadline of 3 PM CT on Wednesday, Bryant was signed to a five-year, $70 million deal.

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