Dez Bryant: 'Garrett guys' provoked Cowboys release

Dez Bryant believes his rather abrupt release from the Dallas Cowboys on Friday was partly the culmination of players and coaches who wanted him off the team.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with NFL Network's Jane Slater, Bryant blamed "Garrett guys" for spearheading the Cowboys' decision to end his eight-year career in Dallas.

"I'll say this right here: I believe that 'Garrett guys.' I would say that," said in response to a question from Slater on the idea that some teammates had a role in the decision to release him.

"I won't put no names out, but they know and I want them to know. I know," Bryant said. "I'll shoot them a text message and let them know. Little do they know is, you know, they can wear that "C" all they want to, but in that locker room, they know they run and they talk to. They know who they communicate with. Everybody knows where the real love is at. I'm not throwing anybody under the bus, but that's the difference between me and them."

Bryant said he believes it was difficult for team owner Jerry Jones to release him, but that there were other people within the Cowboys' organization that were ultimately pushing for him to be released.

"Jerry Jones, he loved me to death and I loved him too," Bryant said. "I honestly believe in my heart that this was a hard decision for him. But when it's five, six guys at a table against one guy, you got to do it.

"It was an unfair situation because if they wanted to get rid of me, they could have told me that. ... I would have respected it."

Bryant said he wanted to stay in Dallas, but his contract was always considered a major hurdle to any potential ongoing relationship. The 29-year-old wide receiver was due $12.5 million base salary in 2018 and was set to cost $16.5 million against the salary cap. Even though he stated publicly all offseason that he held no intentions of taking a pay cut, he said he changed his stance.

When asked if he was willing to take a pay reduction, Bryant responded, "Yeah, if it was offered.

"The only question I was going to have for that was: Even if I did take a pay cut, am I going to be able to come in to work and be happy? Will I be able to enjoy it? Because I already got a feeling that this person don't like me, this person don't like me."

Tune into NFL Total Access on NFL Network to see the full interview.

Here are some other topics Bryant touched on during his interview with Slater:

Bryant wants to play for an NFC East team: "I won't say any teams, but being in the division, that's a huge possibility. That's a huge possibility. That's something that I want. ... It's personal. Like I said, it's very personal. I already had a plan of training and getting my mind right. I just want to do it that much more.

On wanting to prove people wrong: "I'm just tired of being a scapegoat, tired of all of it. I'm a real guy. I'm a real guy and I just want to prove and I'm going to continue to keep proving that on and off of the field. Like I said, when you do wrong to people, nothing good happens on the other end. I don't care how great it looks on the outside. It's all about what it is on the inside. ... I come from dirt, so I got strong belief and I got strong faith. So it is what it is."

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