Should Demaryius Thomas Attempt a Dez Bryant Style Holdout?

Demaryius Thomas is already holding out on the Denver Broncos until he gets the long term deal he seeks. But would he be willing to go to the lengths that Dez Bryant is willing to go to in order to get the deal he desires?

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Dez Bryant and Demaryius Thomas are both caught up in the contract negotiation version of the game “Chicken”.

Bryant and Thomas both know what they will demand in order to get on the field for their respective franchises.

Their respective franchises have franchise tagged them in order to put a place holder on these players so that they can’t negotiate with anyone else.

The franchise tag is also a neat way for NFL front offices to lock a player into an extra year of service for the team without having to pay above market value and having to kick in a signing bonus when you think about it.

Both Demaryius Thomas and Dez Bryant are scheduled to make about $13 million in their franchise tag deals if they do not reach a deal and sign on the dotted line by July 15th.

Both of their teams, as much as they put on a nice PR face when it comes to negotiating in good faith, are in reality trying to get respective wide receivers on virtually cheap terms one last time without having to break off guaranteed signing bonus dollars.

Everybody voicing opinions..13 mil is cool but Where is my security? I'll wait ...5 years without complaining..So how am I selfish? #family1
— Dez Bryant (@DezBryant) June 17, 2015

Thus the reason for the question, ” is Demaryius Thomas willing to do a Dez Bryant style holdout?”.

Dez Bryant has made it publically known that he is willing to carry his hold out all the way into the regular season if need be in order to get the money he is looking for.

According to Tim Cowlishaw for dallasnews.com, Bryant is willing to miss the Cowboys’ Week 1 game against the New York Giants if Jerry Jones does not loosen the purse strings and break off Bryant his proper dollars.

This tactic was actually used in the 90’s by Emmitt Smith, but it was a different time and different circumstance.

But just the fact that Dez Bryant would go to that length makes you wonder if Demaryius Thomas would be willing to do that in order to make a point with the Broncos.

Demaryius Thomas is rumored to be waiting until Dez Bryant signs with Dallas before putting his name to ink with the Broncos.

Although it seems that it would be wise to sign his franchise tag deal for one year so that he won’t be locked in the following year in the event that Peyton Manning leaves, you can understand why he has not signed a deal yet.

If he does sign for the franchise tag dollars and gets hurt during the season, chances are that he will be devalued because of his injury and will not be able to negotiate or even procure the guaranteed dollars that he is able to demand now.

Boomer and Carton discussed the situation on their show via cbssports.com.

So in the end this is not about the fact that Thomas or Bryant won’t be able to get paid at the going rate for wide receivers in the NFL for at least one season– this is about getting the guaranteed dollars that they are deserving of and the security of knowing they are taken care of for the long-term.