The saga of the Dallas Cowboys' contract dispute with wide receiver Dez Bryant ended Wednesday after they signed him to a five-year, $70 million deal just before the deadline of signing franchise tags.
Dallas assigned Bryant a franchise tag, which if signed will earn him $12.823 million next season.
According to the Cowboys' website, Bryant's new deal has a $45 million guarantee and includes a $20 million signing bonus.
Bryant has done a lot to earn the contract he wanted and it took months before it materialized.
In his pursuit of a long-term deal, the 26-year-old athlete missed the Cowboys' organized team activities and only attended the final day of mandatory minicamp last month.
During his one-day minicamp visit, Bryant did not join practice but only watched from the sidelines.
The two-time Pro Bowler also played catch with a Cowboys employee and spoke with quarterback Tony Romo.
Recently, Bryant also said that he will not be reporting to the Cowboys as training camp looms and again emphasized his willingness of missing regular season action.
But all of those are a thing of the past as Bryant is now one of the highest-paid wide receivers in the NFL following the signing of his pact with the Cowboys.
"I smiled the whole way over here -- I couldn't even say nothing but just smile and laugh, because I couldn't believe it. All I could just think about is that it's a dream -- a dream come true. I think the only thing that's missing is a Super Bowl," Bryant told the team website after inking the deal.
Bryant played huge last season and helped the Cowboys make it to the playoffs after missing it in the previous four seasons.
In 16 regular season games, Bryant had 88 receptions for 1,320 yards and 16 touchdowns although he was limited to only six receptions for 86 yards with no touchdowns in two postseason appearances.
