All Pro wide receiver Dez Bryant has just unleashed the latest salvo in his contract dispute with the Dallas Cowboys, telling the NFL Network Friday that he could miss the Cowboys’ season opening game against the New York Giants if he isn’t signed to a long-term contract by July 15.
Dez Bryant willing to sit out Week 1 of the 2015 season (via @MikeSilver): http://t.co/fvnqTbp7vr pic.twitter.com/dcHBJgqqeZ
— NFL (@NFL) June 12, 2015
The Cowboys hit Bryant with their franchise tag which will play him $12.823 million this season, but he’s yet to sign it or show up to organized team activities. July 15 is the deadline for players on the franchise tag to sign a long-term deal, so if Bryant and the Cowboys can’t reach an agreement by then, he’ll have to play on the tag.
Last year Bryant caught 88 passes for 1,320 yards and 16 touchdowns.
You hate to see the negotiations get this ugly and, frankly, I don’t see what the hold-up is in getting Bryant signed and happy. The man is worth what he’s worth and if the Cowboys want to keep him in the fold, it’s time to fork over the cash. The only hiccup I could see stalling the deal is guaranteed money, but sometimes you have to gamble on a player like Bryant. The Cowboys didn’t draft him to be mediocre. They’ve got one of the best wide receivers in the NFL and now they have to pay him like one. Cough it up.
Eli Manning spills the beans on Peyton’s “Omaha” chant
Peyton Manning once told CBS Sports when asked about his famous “Omaha” pre-snap chant could be “a run play, but it could be a pass play or a play-action pass, depending on a couple things. Which way we’re going, the quarter and the jerseys that we’re wearing. It varies, really, from play to play. So there’s your answer to that one.”
https://twitter.com/AdamBlackEsq/status/608626460488630272
This week at a town hall even for the New York Giants, the question came up to Eli Manning. He was a little more open.
“Alright, so ‘Omaha’ was in the playbook,” Eli Manning told the crowd. “There was actually a sheet with Omaha at the top. Basically, Omaha was, maybe we changed the play, or maybe I had changed the protection, or maybe (former Giants offensive lineman Dave) Diehl had to tie his shoe and it was taking forever, and the play clock is running down, and Omaha just told everybody to put their hand in the ground, shut up, and the ball is about to be snapped. So I’m going to say ‘Omaha,’ I’m going to say it again, and say ‘Set, Hut,’ and you do whatever you think you need to be doing, and let’s go play football. So there you go.”
The mystery is finally solved.
Anybody want to buy a professional football stadium?
With all the talk about teams building stadiums and upgrading stadiums, you forget that there are still vestiges of the old home fields still lingering out in the world. Such is the case with the Pontiac Silverdome, former home to the Detroit Lions. It’s still on the market, where it’s been since the team moved to Ford Field in 2002.
Owner wants 30 million dollars for the Silverdome… pic.twitter.com/4viGwH51IS
— Michigan Problems (@michiganprobz) June 12, 2015
But the Silverdome is still sitting there where it was first built back in 1975. And it can be yours for the insignificant sum of $30 million. But according to the realtor listing the property, Robert Mihelich, that number is “flexible.”
The Silverdome and the adjoining 127 acres are currently owned by Triple Properties out of Toronto, Canada, who bought the entire place for a cool $583,000 back in 2009. It cost $55.7 million to build back in the 1970s.
Triple Properties claimed they would redevelop the property when they bought it, even going as far as running a design competition for the public back in February. They’ve evidently changed their mind.
The $30 million price tag seems a little steep. According to Michigan Live, the entire assessed market value of the property is somewhere in the neighborhood of $2.1 million. The Silverdome has fallen into complete disrepair since the Lions left and the dome itself has collapsed. BMX rider Tyler Fernegel went viral recently when he trick-rode through the post-apocalyptic mess inside the Silverdome, which included a jump out of a luxury box.
Player news
The New Orleans saints signed former Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Kevin Williams.
Montreal Alouettes defensive end Michael Sam took a leave of absence Friday before the exhibition opener against the Ottawa Redblacks for unreleased personal reasons.
Minnesota Vikings defensive tackle Tom Johnson was acquitted of all counts from an arrest for disorderly conduct at a Minneapolis restaurant last October.
The San Francisco 49ers claimed offensive tackle Sean Hooey off waivers from the New York Jets
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers picked up tight end Tim Wright after he was cut by the New England Patriots. Wright was traded to the Patriots from the Bucs last season.
