Dez Bryant Agrees to Five-Year Contract With Cowboys

Receiver Dez Bryant has signed his contract and will be in camp when the Cowboys get going this weekend,

If somebody had asked you which NFL first-round draft pick would be the first to sign, you might have needed 32 guesses. The answer turns out to be wide receiver Dez Bryant, the 24th overall pick, who earlier this week seemed to be hinting at a holdout but instead signed his deal with the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday and will be in camp when it opens this weekend. Bryant's is a five-year, $11.8 million contract that includes $8.5 million in guarantees.

"This was very important to me, to be able to get this done in time for the first practice," Bryant said in a statement released by the Cowboys. "I want to help this team, I want to compete. I can't wait to start playing football again."

There had been some thought around the league that Bryant's contract negotiations would be long and drawn-out. His agent, Eugene Parker, represented Michael Crabtree in his holdout with the 49ers a year ago. Like Crabtree, Bryant is a receiver who was drafted lower than his talent dictated that he ought to be. With Crabtree, the reason was Oakland's boneheaded decision to draft Darrius Heyward-Bey ahead of him, and Crabtree's demand that he be paid according to where he should have been drafted instead of where he was.

Bryant dropped in the draft because of some perceived character issues that got a lot of pre-draft play but likely were overblown. If there was any concern about Bryant causing a problem with the Cowboys before getting on the field, that is now allayed, as he will join his new teammates for their first practice in advance of a season that comes with Super Bowl expectations.

Negotiations continue between the St. Louis Rams and No. 1 overall pick Sam Bradford, who's looking for a deal that guarantees him close to $50 million. That deal is expected to get done before training camp starts, and if the Bryant deal doesn't get the dominoes falling then that one certainly will.

One high-profile quarterback did get his own rookie deal signed Thursday, though. Colt McCoy, the third-round pick of the Cleveland Browns, signed a four-year deal with a little more than $1 million guaranteed. McCoy will be a backup to starter Jake Delhomme in Cleveland, at least at the start of the season.

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