Former Dallas quarterback Troy Aikman didn’t mince words about one of his old team’s top former players no longer with the team.
Aikman says the Cowboys don’t need Dez Bryant, who was cut earlier this spring after eight seasons with the team.
Aikman will broadcast the Cowboys’ opener Sunday afternoon at Carolina. His broadcasting expertise seems to hint that Bryant, who turns 30 in November, can’t play in the NFL anymore.
“The Dez from 2017, I don’t think they will miss at all,” Aikman told a group of Dallas-Fort Worth reporters that were printed by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
“No matter who they got coaching the receivers, I don’t think Dez was a threat for most, if not all of last year. When you get one on one looks, no matter who you are as a receiver, that is what you are looking for as a quarterback. And if you can’t beat defenders one on one, then you simply can’t play in the NFL.”
Bryant, the franchise’s career leader in touchdown receptions, was cut by the team in April and still hasn’t hooked on with another team.
The Cowboys will feature an overhauled receivers group in 2017 with new position coach Sanjay Lal.
His group features a retooled group supplementing holdovers Terrance Williams and Cole Beasley. Among the team’s new additions include veterans Tavon Austin, Deonte Thompson and Allen Hurns and rookie third-round draft pick Michael Gallup.
