The Redskins are currently suffering an injury crisis at wide receiver, but Washington will not be placing a call to Dez Bryant to help them out.
Jay Gruden is running out of healthy wide receivers, but the Washington Redskins won’t be reaching out to the biggest free agent wideout on the market. Despite the fact that Dez Bryant is open to playing in Washington, the Redskins have no interest in bringing in the veteran pass catcher.
Maurice Harris, Trey Quinn and Cam Simms are also questionable for the Redskins moving forward. Harris is suffering from a concussion while Quinn and Simms both have high ankle injuries that may or may not require surgery. None of the three is currently listed as a starter, but each is a key backup player for Washington.
Despite all of those injuries, sources close to the Redskins insist the team has “no intention to pursue Dez Bryant.” That’s a pretty bad sign for the free agent wideout. His best bet of finding a team to sign him this season seems to be a franchise suffering significant injuries at the position. If the Redskins, a team that’s seen Bryant play multiple times during every season of his career, don’t want to sign him, it’s fair to question whether any team will roll the dice on him this season.
In the end, Bryant’s best bet continues to be the Cleveland Browns. Hue Jackson’s team got solid production from their wideouts during Week 1, but they still could use an additional offensive playmaker.
GM John Dorsey has made no secret of his continued interest in the former Cowboys star, but there haven’t been any concrete reports of communication between the two parties since Cleveland’s opening week tie against the Steelers.
In fairness to Bryant, some of the Redskins lack of interest probably should be chalked up to the media circus that would accompany his arrival. Gruden is under enough pressure to win this season as it is. Adding a big personality like Bryant to his roster would only increase the scrutiny surrounding his status as Washington’s head coach.
No matter what, the Redskins are not going to end Bryant’s unemployment. He may just have to wait for another injury before he finds the right opportunity to play in 2018.