Wide receiver Patrick Crayton has demanded an immediate release from the team, according to a report.
Crayton, who has been absent from all team activities this offseason as he seeks a trade, said in an interview on "The Ben and Skin Show," on ESPN Radio, that the team should release him now so the sixth-year receiver may find a new team. He fears that Dallas will hold onto him for "insurance" until after training camp, when the task of finding a new home (and settling in there) would be much more difficult.
"If I'm going to be with another team, I need to get used to another city, another franchise, a new coach, a new quarterback, a new coordinator, everything," Crayton said, per ESPNDallas.com. "Just a whole new environment. My wife and kids got to get settled in, got to get in schools and everything. I would love to have the opportunity to compete with another team versus come here and come here for a numbers thing where they're like, 'Oh, we're not going to pay you that to be our fourth or fifth guy,' or whatever the situation is and you kept me the whole training camp because you need camp bodies.
"To me, you're messing with people's careers and people's lives."
After reports surfaced stating that Dallas was shopping Crayton throughout last month's draft, he and agent Fred Lyles approached the team asking to help in finding a new destination for the DeSoto native. Aside from a call to Miami though--to gauge interest--no progress has been seen to this end.
"[Lyles] has definitely expressed that, but they're not going to do that," Crayton said, in reference to a potential trade. "I'm the insurance guy."
Now, with no discernible role among a loaded receiving corps, Crayton has seemingly given up on the idea of being traded altogether, arguing that, very simply, he no longer fits in the plans of the Dallas offense.
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"For those guys to develop, they have to be on the field," Crayton said. "For them to be on the field, I'm not going to be on it, so I would love them to not dangle me around and everything because I have a family to think about."
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