MICHAEL MOORESAN ANTONIO, TX
Does Dez deserve a big deal? While he looked good against average DBs, he disappears against the best. Patrick Peterson owned him and Sherman won more than he lost to Dez. Then there's the playoffs where Dez was mostly a nonfactor. While you might argue teams rolled coverage his way, can you recall Michael Irvin being a non-factor in the playoffs, outside of the loss to the 49ers in Switzer's first year? I think a big deal to Dez could cripple the team in future years.
Bryan: I don't agree at all there. What will cripple this team in future years is if you don't find more players like Dez Bryant that are difference makers. Bryant is as rare as they come in this league and despite all the attention that he receives in these games – the fact of the matter is that he still finds ways to make plays. His catches to touchdown ratio is one of the best in the NFL for the entire season so calling him a nonfactor really isn't accurate at all.
David:I'm going to have to go ahead and call this incredibly silly. Bryant hasn't missed a game in three years – which is more than most of the elite receivers in the NFL can say. He's gone for more than 1,200 yards in all of those years, and he's tallied 41 receiving touchdowns in the same span. He might be the most dangerous red zone weapon in the entire league. He commands double teams and extra attention every week, and he still produces more often than not. It's worth pointing out that he lost to Patrick Peterson on a week when Brandon Weeden was throwing the ball. On top of all of this, he just turned 26, so he's got a lot of football left in front of him. He should be one of the cornerstones of this franchise for years to come, and he deserves to be paid like that.
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DAVID VALIANTEWILMINGTON, DE
Every free agency period seems to have a few players who sign one-year deals to, "as they say," bet on themselves. Can you give us some names who may fall into this category and why you think so?
Bryan:I will be interested to see what happens with Greg Hardy due to his off the field issues. Brian Orakpo has been a productive player during his career when healthy but now that seems to be a problem. Ryan Matthews is much like Orakpo in that he can't stay on the field so he might have to prove that he can do so. Those are the names that are off the top of my head.
David: Bryan stole my thunder with the mention of Greg Hardy. I can't imagine someone will be willing to give him that big of a deal considering all of the problems surrounding him. Another guy I'm curious about will be Nick Fairley. He's a talented, first-round-type player, but he's only played in 46 of a possible 66 games since the Lions drafted him. That's sure to affect his value, and potentially the length of the deal he can get. On the local end, I think Anthony Spencer probably falls into that category. He's 31, and he's still not far removed from microfracture knee surgery. He may once again have to sign a bet-on-me deal, much like he did in 2014 with the Cowboys.
