Quick Hitters
Cowboys release Dez Bryant, look to catch salary-cap relief
FRISCO, Texas — Dez Bryant never lived up to the big contract he signed with the Dallas Cowboys when he was among the best receivers in the NFL.
If the franchise leader in touchdown catches is going to find his 2014 All-Pro form again, it will be with another team.
The Cowboys released Bryant on Friday, deciding salary-cap relief and declining production from one of their biggest stars outweighed the risk of him proving them wrong by becoming a Pro Bowl player again somewhere else.
And Bryant used Twitter to make it clear that he will be trying.
“If I didn’t have my edge, I’ve got it now,” he wrote among a flurry of tweets over two days, starting the day before a meeting where owner and general manager Jerry Jones told him he was being released. “It’s very personal.”
The 29-year-old Bryant signed a $70 million, five-year deal after leading the NFL with 16 touchdowns in 2014. But he didn’t have a 1,000-yard season in three years under the big contract, and just played all 16 games without a 100-yard day for the first time in his eight-year career.
Bryant was owed $12.5 million on each of the last two years of his deal, with a $16.5 million salary cap hit both times. The release clears about $8.5 million in cap space.
Bryant and Jones had a unique relationship because of the trouble that surrounded the receiver early in his career. Off-field concerns were the reason the Cowboys got him; he slid to near the bottom of the first round of the 2010 draft. Dallas traded up three spots to get him.
Before the three most prolific seasons of his career, when Bryant averaged 1,312 yards and nearly 14 touchdowns per year, he got tangled in lawsuits over unpaid jewelry bills and had a baggy pants incident with police at an upscale Dallas mall.
The Gila Ridge baseball team had to work out of a few sticky jams on Friday afternoon against Yuma High, but the Hawks were able avoid any big innings to pull out the win.
Gila Ridge (4-9 AIA, 3-3) won 8-3 after the Criminals loaded the bases twice, but they were only able to get two runs out of those opportunities. Yuma High (212, 2-4) ended up stranding 10 runners on base in the game.
“That’s a well-coached team,” Gila Ridge coach James Kuzniak said. “I know they’re a little shorthanded with guys. They still made us battle. We had to earn it. It was good to get a lot of people in the game. A lot of people contributed to the success.”
Hawks pitcher Anthony Yee had to work out of those tough spots in the game. He managed to do that over his six innings with two earned runs and nine strikeouts. He had four hits and four walks in