When word first emerged last week that the NFL Players Association has evidence that the Cowboys and Broncos had colluded regarding the long-term negotiations with franchise-tagged receivers Dez Bryant and Demaryius Thomas, it felt like a leverage ploy aimed at helping get both players negotiate long-term deals.
Apparently, it is.
According to Dan Graziano of ESPN.com, the NFLPA plans to move forward with the collusion investigation if the players don’t sign multi-year contracts before Wednesday’s deadline of 4:00 p.m. ET.
As PFT reported on Monday, the initial evidence came from a phone call between Cowboys COO Stephen Jones and Bryant, during which Jones allegedly said he had talked to Broncos G.M. John Elway about the situation. (The Cowboys still have not responded to a request for comment on the situation, and Jones has not yet otherwise denied the allegation.)
If collusion happened, it shouldn’t matter whether the players get long-term deals. Then again, if they get long-term deals it means they ultimately chose the multi-year package over playing for $12.8 million in 2015. Which means that they’ll be happy with the situation and ready to move forward without causing any extra trouble.
Which will mean that the collusion case was a leverage ploy. If it helps the players get the contracts they want, so be it. It’s far better to make it known before the deadline than after that the NFLPA plans to push the issue. If there was collusion, the Cowboys and Broncos have added incentive to get these contracts resolved.
And if they don’t get long-term deals, it’ll be interesting to see any emails or text messages exchanged by members of the Dallas and Denver front offices.
