Why the 49ers shouldn’t sign Dez Bryant

The Dallas Cowboys’ release of wide receiver Dez Bryant seemingly makes him a prized free agent. Niner Noise explains why the San Francisco 49ers should not sign him.

This entire offseason, I have written numerous articles on why I believe the San Francisco 49ers should acquire a big-bodied possession-type receiver to help the offense in the red zone.

Free-agent wide receiver Dez Bryant fits those traits — the 6-foot-2 and 220-pound longtime Dallas Cowboy receiver is known for snagging those one-on-one, or in multiple occasions, one-on-two or even one-on-three jump balls.

So why don’t I want him on the 49ers?

After all, he even said on Instagram that he wants to join head coach Kyle Shanahan and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo in the Bay Area!

Dez, I love your enthusiasm and desire to become a Niner, but the feeling isn’t mutual.

First of all, Bryant’s level of play has significantly declined since his days of greatness on the Cowboys. The receiver is aging, at 29 years old, and it is showing on the field.

Stats-wise, Bryant has not come close to a 1000-yard receiving season since 2014. I know part of that has to do with sub-par quarterback play, but the fact of the matter is that Bryant is not consistently getting separation from opposing cornerbacks enough and dropping too many footballs.

Those are some of the two most important things Shanahan looks for in a receiver — the ability to separate and be sure-handed.

San Francisco 49ers

Even if Bryant was to come on the team, where would he fit on the depth chart?

With the addition of electric rookies Dante Pettis, Richie James and even undrafted free-agent Steven Dunbar, who I actually compared to the Atlanta Falcons’ Julio Jones (read first, laugh later), the team is already stacked with receivers who fit Shanahan’s scheme.

There is simply no room for Bryant to come in and make an impact on this offense.

But, Aaron, why not just sign him to bring competition to the wide receiver group? After all, he wants to come to the 49ers and nobody else wants him, so general manager John Lynch can just sign him for the vet minimum, right?

This is actually the biggest reason I do not want Bryant anywhere near this locker room.

Since his arrival in San Francisco, Lynch has been all about bringing in high-character players onto this team, and aside from a few dumb mistakes committed by linebacker Reuben Foster, this locker room has been very close with high-character players, who have stayed out of trouble.

Lynch actually liked this tweet I wrote in response to safety Adrian Colbert doing a signed jersey giveaway to spread stories about good-natured heroic fans:

Bryant, on the other hand, is one word — toxic.

Now that may sound a little extreme, but I was watching the Amazon show All or Nothing, a behind-the-scenes look at the Cowboys’ 2017 season, and saw this particularly triggering scene where the team was coming off of a dominant season-opening win against the New York Giants and the wide receiver group was doing a film session to prepare for their next game against the Denver Broncos.

Any casual fan of the NFL knows that the Broncos’ defense, especially their secondary, is chock-full of amazingly talented players that has the ability to shut any offense down.

Wide receivers coach Derek Dooley simply acknowledged these were going to be tough opponents the Cowboys receivers were going to be facing, and then Bryant out of nowhere explodes at his coach, scolding him for how he loves to give credit to opponents and never to his receivers.

Dooley, being the oddly passive coach that he is, just started looking uncomfortable, did not punish Bryant for talking back and moved on.

This may seem like a mere small incident, but it spoke volumes about the type of guy Dez Bryant is. I almost thought (the new) Kanye West had stepped into the Cowboys’ practice facility for a second.

I even saw Cowboys fans online who were very perplexed by this particular scene and noted how much of a nuisance Bryant must have been in the locker room.

I hope Shanahan and Lynch are watching All or Nothing. It could save them from a potential locker room disaster.

Next: 49ers offseason positional preview: Wide receiver

Never in a million years would I want this type of personality in the locker room.