Dez Bryant Explains Why He's Not Taking a Pay Cut in 2018

Know your worth.

Dez Bryant.
Getty

Image via Getty/Lachlan Cunningham/Contributor

Dez Bryant.

Although it’s been a pretty rough season for Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant, the man knows his worth. When asked by reporters on Wednesday if he would consider taking a pay cut if his team asks him to during the offseason, Bryant didn’t mince words.

"I haven't heard no talk about that but if it comes, I don't know, probably not," the 29-year-old player said, according to ESPN. "Hell naw, man. I believe in me."

Bryant, who has never been shy when it comes to expressing himself, is set to earn nearly $13 million next season.

The wide receiver has struggled this year, citing tendinitis in his knee as the culprit. But he also acknowledged that off-the-field problems played a factor in his subpar season. "Me personally just wanting to do different things. Probably at the time I should have focused on what I could control,” Bryant said. "I let a lot of things get in the way. I wish I didn't. I feel like that affected, I know for a fact, some of my play."

Bryant, a "Texas boy" at heart, has no plans on leaving the Cowboys anytime soon. "Hell yeah, what do you mean?" he said, when asked if he’d ever consider playing elsewhere. "What kind of question was that? That's dumb. I'm a Texas boy all day."

The star receiver, however, appears to be open to new opportunities. "I don't know, but if that came about, I'm still Dez Bryant," he later told reporters. "I'm still going over the top. If it's there where I can grab it, I'm going to grab it. That's who I am."

Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones did not want to discuss Bryant's future prospects with the media after his team fell to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. Bryant is planning on meeting with head coach Jason Garrett and Jones during the offseason, ESPN reported.

Latest in Sports