Laaaaa... Laaa... La La... Wait Til I Get My Money Right...
Laaaaa... Laaa... La La... Then You Can't Tell Me Nothing Right...
--Kanye West "Cant' Tell Me Nothing"
Well, Dez Bryant says at least you can't tell him nothing about his jewelry debt. You'll just have to find something else to hate about him now.
Earlier today, Bryant settled a civil lawsuit that was filed against him; dealing with unpaid debts from loaned jewelry, loaned money and sporting event tickets from North Texas business man Eleow Hunt. The lawsuit originally asked for over $600,000, but was settled for between $400k and $500k according to NFL.com.
Over the summer, when the NFL players were locked out from the league, it became public knowledge that Bryant was facing three separate lawsuits for various debts. It appears that this final settlement puts all of those obligations to rest. On his couch. Charlie Murphy style.
Bryant is still playing under his rookie contract, which did not include any preseason bonuses for 2011. His deal with Dallas nets him a little over $1.1 million for the season; roughly $70K per game and $834K to date.
For those looking for something else to complain about Bryant, one could gripe about his production on the field. That is, if you only look to volume stats to quantify a players performance. The second year receiver "only" has 38 receptions and 620 yards on the season, to go along with his very respectable six scores.
Bryant has only been targeted 64 times on the season however, barely more than half of league leader Wes Welker of the Patriots who checks in with 112 targets. Bryant ranks 10th of all receivers in Pro Football Focus' cumulative game grades, meaning that he performs well in the capacity that he is asked to. One needs to only look at how defenses are rolled over to him with lead receiver Miles Austin out several weeks with a hamstring injury.
Austin is rumored to be returning for the Arizona Cardinals game on Sunday, but hasn't made it onto the practice field just yet. All of the attention afforded Bryant has allowed mid-season acquisition Laurent Robinson to excel, as he's scored seven touchdowns in his last five games. If Austin is able to return for the final stretch of the season, Dallas could finally have an offensive arsenal ready to compete with the big boys of the NFC.
For more coverage of the Cowboys, make sure to check out Blogging The Boys.