The San Francisco 49ers should look to sign Dez Bryant

The San Francisco 49ers need a receiver. With the Dallas Cowboys’ recent release of Dez Bryant, he should be their new addition at the position.

Hold on, before you dismiss the thought of signing Dez Bryant at least listen to the reasoning. Give the idea a chance.

Even the mention of possibly bringing in Bryant will make most fans pull out their pitchforks, but this should not be the case. Its true, last season Dez Bryant was what you call, not good, but that won’t necessarily be the case if the San Francisco 49ers were to sign him.

Bryant fell off in 2017 for two main reasons. For one, he doesn’t have the burst he used to, making it difficult for him to get open one on one, as he was never a good route runner to begin with. Take away some of the physical gifts from a player who’s game relies solely on them, and he will suffer.

Secondly, Bryant simply never had great chemistry with Dak Prescott. When you watched the Dallas Cowboys play in 2016 and 2017, it was clear that the two were just never on the same page. This isn’t an indictment on either of the two players’ skill, sometimes players just don’t perform well in certain situations, it happens.

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While both of these factors together made Bryant an average at best player in 2017, they wouldn’t hold him back on the 49ers.

For starters, while his lack of route running ability thwarted his ability on the Cowboys, and it probably would on most other teams, it would not on the 49ers.

The team has one of the best offensive minds in the NFL as a head coach, Kyle Shanahan. What we know about coaches of his caliber is that they are able to take just about any capable player and use them to the best of their abilities by not trying to put them in a role they aren’t capable of succeeding at.

Look at Marquise Goodwin for example. In his time on the Bills, Goodwin had virtually zero success. Now when you pair him a coach of Shanahan’s stature, he thrives. The same could happen with Bryant.

Bryant is not the player he used to be, it’s true. Kyle Shanahan likely knows this as well as anyone. The difference is he will know how to use the abilities that Bryant still possesses and turn them into production.

Bryant can no longer get open consistently against top tier corners on his own, but in an offense as elite as the San Francisco 49ers’, the scheme can get him open. Get the ball in his hands with a creative play call and Bryant can make things happen, as he is still a skilled player after the catch.

Not to mention the fact that Bryant is still an elite jump ball receiver, something the current 49ers roster lacks. A player like Bryant can be the red zone threat the team needs, especially since they don’t have a great option at tight end. He can be the 2018 version of Anquan Boldin.

The coaching staff in Dallas did Dez Bryant no favors by trying utilize him as if he was still the Bryant of old, leading him to failure. This would be far from the case in San Francisco.

There’s this one other small thing that can contribute to Bryant having success in San Francisco. You may have heard of this guy before, seeing as he’s sorta good at this whole football thing. His name is Jimmy Garoppolo, and he is better than Dak Prescott.

Bryant clearly never had the rapport with with Prescott that he had with Tony Romo. Now is the opportunity to start a new with a brand new, much better quarterback.

On the field, Bryant can undoubtedly succeed with the team. The business aspect of the game may be a concern to some still.

How much money will Dez Bryant command? If it’s anything like what he was making in Dallas, one would be right to be skeptical towards the idea of signing him. Admittedly, he is not worth that type of number one receiver money at his current state.

But there’s no way he will command that type of price tag. It is hard to imagine any team looking at how Bryant performed last year and throwing the bag at him. So if the San Francisco 49ers were to try and sign him, it would likely be at a reasonable price.

In the end, if you’re still against bringing Dez Bryant to San Francisco, you’re opinion is understandable. But you should see the thought of bringing him in as equally understandable.

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Signing Dez Bryant is a low risk move that if gone through with, has the potential to give the 2018 San Francisco 49ers’ offense the extra element they need to become among the league’s best offense.

If you need one thing to hold onto in terms of justifying a possible Dez Bryant signing it should be this, trust Kyle Shanahan.