Dez Bryant: Why the Dallas Cowboys Would Be Foolish to Entertain Trade Offers

Dez Bryant on the trading block?

According to one Dallas Cowboys front office person, the answer is a timid, "yes."

In a report posted on Profootballtalk.com, the unnamed executive states the Cowboys would be willing to "think about" entertaining trade offers for the young wide receiver.

The very idea of the Cowboys trading Dez Bryant after one above average rookie season is beyond ludicrous. Jerry Jones does some strange things, but trading potential star wide receivers after one season isn't one of them.

This would be more believable if it were Al Davis, but let's not go there. Sorry Raiders fans, your owner is senile and needs to call it quits.

But back to Bryant, the report goes on to state that Patrick Crayton, formerly of Dallas, has told reporters Bryant was allowed to get away with a lot of things other players weren't, and the piece insinuates Bryant was having trouble learning the playbook and showing up on time for meetings.

However, Bryant showed far too much upside in his rookie season for the Cowboys to entertain any but the most ridiculous offers for him, which won't happen. Bryant was a first-round draft pick last year, and with his good performance, the Cowboys shouldn't demand anything less than a pick in the top 15.

Bryant may have some maturity problems, but with a new head coach and a new attitude in the locker room, Bryant could mature much quicker. He seems smart enough to realize who's paying him and the downside of being a troublemaker.

Jones got rid of Terrell Owens because of the disruptions despite his production.

While it truly is a moot point, any trade of Bryant would send Cowboys fans into apoplectic fit. Like with any other team, it doesn't matter who you annoy along the way, winning cures everything. That being said, it would be a very tough sell to tell your fans trading away last year's No. 1 pick is going to make the team better.

The Cowboys have a lot of building to do to get back to the playoffs, not as much as some teams, but they don't want to create another need by shipping off a very talented wide receiver who already has a year in the system.

Look at what happened in Denver with Josh McDaniels. He not only dumped Brandon Marshall, he added in the starting quarterback, and look where the Broncos, and McDaniels, are now. The Broncos will be rebuilding again, and McDaniels is hoping to get a coordinator job.

If the Cowboys would seriously think about trading away Bryant, then that means they're not retooling for a playoff run in 2011, they're blowing everything up and starting from scratch. That's not the message Jones was giving to the fans at the end of the season, so Cowboys fans should be able to take a deep breath and relax.

One has to realize that the job of a front office guy is to look at every single possible option they have to improve the team. That includes "listening" to any and every offer a team gets. So while this executive didn't exactly lie in his answer to the reporter, he was being a bit disingenuous.

Trading away a key component of your offense like Bryant makes about as much sense as trading head coaches, which again brings us to Al Davis, and the one team you really don't want to emulate right now.