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Report that Dez Bryant could be franchised makes most sense right now

This feels like a good time to talk about what we actually know and what we (safely) can speculate about Dez Bryant. We'll leave the baseless allegations, hints and rumors for others to handle.

Might the Dallas Cowboys be uneasy with the way Bryant sometimes carries himself off the field? Yes, and we suspect little has changed since Yahoo Sports' Rand Getlin reported back in early November that the team has had its reservations about giving him a long-term deal because of that.

Here's what Getlin wrote then and what we believe to remain largely true:

The Cowboys have assisted Bryant in dealing with anger management and related issues, including setting up sessions with behavioral specialists and therapists, according to sources familiar with the team's efforts and thinking. According to multiple sources, the Cowboys have made a number of contract offers to the wide receiver that provided him with meaningful financial guarantees, while providing protections for themselves if any off-field issues came to affect his ability to perform on the field.

There have been incidents in Bryant's past that have concerned the Cowboys, (including perhaps the 2011 incident that has come into recent speculation) which makes this report from NFL Network's Ian Rapoport make a lot of sense:

With no new negotiations scheduled between Dallas and Bryant's agents, Tom Condon and Kim Miale of Roc Nation, the franchise tag is almost a certainty.

Why would it make sense? Well, the Cowboys can guarantee to lock down one of their premiere talents while assuring that they don't go in too deep long term without hamstringing themselves in case of Bryant stepping afoul of the law.

If you look at the Carolina Panthers letting Greg Hardy play under the franchise tag number of $13.1 million last season, and then paying him that money in its entirety while he appeared in only one game following domestic-violence charges (and being shielded, as it was, by landing safely on the commissioner's exempt list), it was far from ideal.

But the Panthers are able to walk away from Hardy, lesson learned, if they feel he's not worth the trouble of keeping as a free agent again this season. That's the way it appears the Panthers are leaning.

That could be the play for the Cowboys. They'd have Bryant for 2015, assuming there's nothing that pushes his season off track, and they can let him walk if things get murky. If not, they'll have to pony up — again — next year. And while the move might actually hinder the Cowboys in the short term and prevent them from keeping DeMarco Murray and perhaps aid a few other trouble spots, it's the right play.

Again, right now, knowing what we know, Bryant remains a prized asset. The Cowboys certainly could be privy to more information than what is public now. But they are comfortable enough with the concept of franchising him now, per this report, and we think this will end up being the play that gets made.

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!