Jerry Jones Roundly Denies Collusion Claims

Shortly after Dez Bryant was signed to a new five-year, $70 million deal on Wednesday, Jerry Jones roundly denied that the Cowboys and the Denver Broncos colluded in their negotiations with Bryant and Demaryius Thomas, respectively.

Bryant’s and Thomas’s deals were very similar and announced just minutes apart, with Bryant’s coming shortly before Thomas’s.

“We did not under any type of interpretation. We did not in any way have collusion,” Jones said during a conference call, per the Dallas Morning News. “I didn’t know until just a second ago watching it on television that the player at Denver had signed. So there was none between the Cowboys and Denver at all.”

Earlier in the week it was reported that, based on a conversation between Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones and Bryant, the NFL Players Association believed Dallas had colluded with Denver and that they’d pursue collusion charges if the pair of receivers didn’t get long-term deals. Both did, and Stephen Jones told 1310-AM The Ticket on Wednesday that he wasn’t worried about the charge.

“No. Absolutely not,” he said. “That’s totally inaccurate. Nothing there was ever, in our mind, of any substance.”

The Broncos have also released a statement denying the claims.