Green Bay Packers roundtable: The Dez Bryant Saga continues
What are the cons of the Packers signing Dez Bryant?
David Steger: Bryant’s ego tends to get in the way of things at times. I get it, this is the NFL with most players that have egos and needs to be cocky to be in this league. He has been in the league for a while now and still hasn’t figured out how to channel himself to focus 100 percent on the field.
Bryant would need to accept that he wouldn’t be the number one wideout and I don’t think he would come to terms with that in the Packers offense. Packers aren’t normally known to take jumps on the wild players in the past. For example, Martellus Bennett was signed last year and is known to be a wild player and was cut by Week 8. Letroy Guion is another example that had a couple run-ins with law enforcement and was let go. So the only wild players the Packers have signed haven’t panned out at all.
Lastly, Dez’s tantrums on the sideline begging for the ball or arguing with coaches is definitely looked down upon in the Green Bay organization.
Brandon Carwile: Bryant has never not been the alpha dog in the receiver’s room so this might be a tough transition for him. Sure, he would love to catch balls from Rodgers, but he has a history of expressing his displeasure when he does not get enough targets. Rodgers is well known for spreading the love and yet Bryant’s temperament would still be an issue.
The Packers would likely sign Bryant on a one-year deal and then have to decide between him and Randall Cobb next offseason. For some reason, this feels like a second act of the Martellus Bennett fiasco.
Mike Wendlandt: Bryant was a great player from 2011-2014, averaging over 1215 yards and 12 touchdowns per season. However, in the three seasons since then, his production has dropped considerably, leading to concerns about whether his best years are behind him. Over the past three years, his catch percentage dropped off a cliff, from being consistently over 60 percent to hovering around 50 percent. The numbers tend to support that notion that he is done.
| Game | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Age | Tm | G | Tgt | Rec | Yds | Y/R | TD | Ctch% |
| 2010 | 22 | DAL | 12 | 73 | 45 | 561 | 12.5 | 6 | 61.6% |
| 2011 | 23 | DAL | 15 | 103 | 63 | 928 | 14.7 | 9 | 61.2% |
| 2012 | 24 | DAL | 16 | 138 | 92 | 1382 | 15.0 | 12 | 66.7% |
| 2013* | 25 | DAL | 16 | 159 | 93 | 1233 | 13.3 | 13 | 58.5% |
| 2014*+ | 26 | DAL | 16 | 136 | 88 | 1320 | 15.0 | 16 | 64.7% |
| 2015 | 27 | DAL | 9 | 72 | 31 | 401 | 12.9 | 3 | 43.1% |
| 2016* | 28 | DAL | 13 | 96 | 50 | 796 | 15.9 | 8 | 52.1% |
| 2017 | 29 | DAL | 16 | 132 | 69 | 838 | 12.1 | 6 | 52.3% |
| Care | Care | 113 | 909 | 531 | 7459 | 14.0 | 73 |
Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table
And I tend to agree to an extent. I think Bryant was a product of the youth movement in Dallas that tended to skew toward running an offense that didn’t capitalize on his skill set and a lack of trust between him and Dak Prescott. Bryant still has some left in the tank to make an impact, but he isn’t the same explosive player he was three years ago and shouldn’t be expected to put up 80 catches and 1100 yards again. Plus, he would want a big money contract, even if it’s just for one year, which is something that might not be worth the risk for the Packers.