As former Oklahoma State receiver Dez Bryant generates an increasing amount of interest in the days leading up to the draft, a league source tells us that more than 10 teams have removed Bryant from their draft boards.
One such team, we’re told, is the Seahawks. The Browns and the Jaguars reportedly have removed him from their boards, too.
Per the source, the concern is that, once he gets paid, it’s unknown whether he’ll show up for work on a consistent basis. Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports reported several weeks ago that Bryant was late for multiple practices, and even games.
Of course, one way around this concern would be to insist upon inclusion of the same “diva clause” into Bryant’s contract that the 49ers placed into receiver Michael Crabtree’s deal, which hinges $15 million in escalators to participation in 90 percent of all activities, voluntary and mandatory. It would be hard for Bryant’s agent to balk at such a move. After all, he’s the same agent who agreed to the inclusion of that term in Crabtree’s contract.
And as to those team who don’t plan to consider drafting Bryant? The reality is that 31 teams can take him off their draft boards -- and he can still be a first-round pick.
As Peter King of SI.com told us tonight, Hall of Fame tackle Anthony Munoz was removed from the draft boards of more than 10 teams; 14, to be exact. And yet the knee injury that caused half the league to run in the other direction didn’t keep him from becoming one of the best offensive linemen of all time.