Dez Bryant threatens to hold out during regular season:

Both Dez Bryant and the Dallas Cowboys seemed very confident that they’d find common ground on a new deal for the star receiver after the 2014 season concluded, but the longer Bryant remains without a new deal the more contentious the situation seems to become.

Despite not participating in OTAs or mini camps, Bryant did show up during mini camp to spend time with his teammates, and it seemed like a positive sign that Bryant may not be willing to play hard ball for a new contract.

Unfortunately, the Cowboys may have underestimated Bryant’s resolve, as the receiver now claims he’s willing to hold out into the regular season if he’s not signed by today’s deadline. Unfortunately for Bryant, NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport is hearing the Cowboys don’t buy it.

“My understanding is the Cowboys simply do not buy it,” Rapoport said Tuesday on the NFL Network. “They don’t think he can stay away from football. They know he has shown up to OTAs and minicamp, plus even when he has not been under contract, Dez Bryant has been hanging around the facility. They simply do not believe that he will miss football games.”

It almost feels a little dirty that the Boys are willing to call Bryant on his bluff because they believe he loves the game too much to stay away. It almost sounds as if Dallas might just be willing to budge if they believed that Bryant would not.

The Cowboys better hope that Bryant doesn’t hold out as missing their top offensive weapon would be a terrible way to start a season in which Dallas hopes to repeat as NFC East champions.

Bills place offensive line coach Aaron Kromer on indefinite leave after assault allegations:

For all the things you hear about NFL players, it’s an NFL coach who’s being accused of one of the more bizarre and inexcusable crimes of the offseason.

Buffalo Bills offensive line coach Aaron Kromer was involved in an altercation along with his son when the pair confronted three minors over beach chairs Kromer and his son had left by a beach access.

According to a Walton County Sheriff’s Office police report released Monday, Kromer threw one of the boy’s fishing poles into the water, and pushed a boy to the ground before punching him in the face resulting in injuries.

The report also alleges after assaulting the minor and directing him to return the chairs, Kromer told the boy he would kill his parents if he reported the assault to the police.

If found guilty of these charges, Buffalo may find it hard to keep Kromer on staff, so it will be interesting to see how the Bills handle the situation if he is found guilty of a crime that shows such poor decision making.

For now the Bills have placed Kromer on indefinite paid administrative leave.

Nice hire, Rex. Seems like the perfect guy to have coaching Richie Incognito.

NFLPA to consider collusion charges against Dallas and Denver Bryant and Thomas don’t get long term deals:

According to ESPN and Pro Football Talk reports, the NFLPA is going to move forward with collusion charges against the Denver Broncos and Dallas Cowboys if franchise tagged receivers- Dez Bryant and Demaryius Thomas- aren’t signed to long term deals before today’s deadline.

ESPN has reported that the NFLPA told the teams Monday that they will need to keep phone records, texts, emails and other communications between the clubs according to a source.

The players union believes the teams colluded to keep their contract offers to the wide receivers similar, and that Cowboys COO Stephen Jones may have unintentionally tipped his hand during a discussion with Bryant.

Pro Football Talk reports per a source with knowledge of the situation that Jones, during a discussion with Bryant about the receiver’s value, told Bryant that he had spoken with Broncos GM John Elway about their talks.

While discussions between team officials are permitted, any cooperation between the two to artificially effect the free agent market could be considered collusion, and could cost the teams dearly.

The NFLPA believes they have credible information that the teams communicated about the contract situations with their star receivers, and will try to prove it if Dallas and Denver don’t find a way to lock up their two stars, but a charge of collusion is very difficult to prove and considering it’s highly unlikely that Jones or Elway would be foolish enough to include any pertinent information in an electronic communication.

There’s no chance that Elway or Jones will confirm any such collusion, so without a paper trail Bryant, Thomas and the NFLPA are likely making a lot of noise that won’t amount to much.