Dez Bryant is still an NFL free agent and those who have covered him in the past are starting to wonder if he is simply waiting for the New York Giants to come calling. Up until this point, the Giants have expressed no public interest in Bryant any further than general manager Dave Gettleman saying they would look into any player. However, Bryant has made it clear he wants to remain in the NFC East in order to get revenge on his former team and he specifically named the Giants as one team where he sees himself as a potential missing piece. The NFL Network's Jane Slater recently suggested Bryant is simply waiting for the process to play out -- as it gets closer to training camp -- he envisions the Giants will come calling.

“Right now, it’s a little bit about revenge,” Slater said Thursday on NFL Network. “I think he’s holding out to see if New York happens to have a need come training camp, and I have to tell you that selfishly, I’d like to see Dez in this division. Covering the Cowboys as much as I do, because I think that he’d make a matchup that’s already entertaining now that we have Saquon Barkley and Ezekiel Elliott, now adding Dez Bryant, and I think you have a very interesting division.”

Throughout the offseason, Giants cornerback Janoris Jenkins has lobbied publicly for the team to sign Bryant. On paper, Bryant fits an obvious need as a boundary (outside) wide receiver with size and physicality. Fans envision Bryant as someone who can replace Brandon Marshall and give the offense what he was supposed to bring at a fraction of the price. Bryant reported turned down a multi-year contract offer from the Baltimore Ravens rumored to be in the $5 million annual range for a chance to sign a one-year "prove it" contract with another team. Shortly after the Giants used the No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft to select running back Saquon Barkley, Bryant warned NFL teams on Twitter to watch out for the Giants. Here is what Bryant told Mike Fisher of 247Sports about the possibility of signing with the Giants even before they landed Barkley.

"It won't be about the money,'' Bryant told Mike Fisher of 247Sports before specifically mentioning the Giants as a potential suitor. "I'm just wanting to win. I want to go somewhere, I'm not going to lie. Our division, New York, they got a hell of a defense, OBJ (Dez pal Odell Beckham Jr.) coming back, Sterling Shepard, that'd be crazy. Crazy. Football means everything to me. Dallas winning the championship means everything to me. I come from nothing, so I'm not going to jeopardize how I feel about football or about winning. Football gave me life. Gave my family life.''

The Giants' lack of interest in Bryant should not come as a big surprise, even considering his friendship with Beckham and the Giants' lack of depth at the wide receiver position. As it stands today, the Giants have just under $8 million in 2018 salary cap space remaining and they still need to sign several players from their 2018 draft class including Barkley. The Giants will also want to save salary cap room for in-season signings, veteran signings around training camp, and potential long-term contract extensions for Beckham and Landon Collins. Continuously investing assets (both draft picks and free agent contracts) at the wide receiver position is what got the Giants into the roster mess they were in during the 2017 season that led to a 3-13 final record. Former general manager Jerry Reese couldn't stop investing in skill position players, but Gettleman is more focused on building through the trenches.

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Putting the financial and philosophical reasons why the Giants might pass on Bryant aside, there is also the question of his fit in the locker room with the new culture head coach Pat Shurmur and Gettleman have attempted to breed. The Giants have targeted, signed, and drafted multiple handfuls of high-character players this offseason with a history as a team captain or leader of their past football teams. When Bryant is seeing the fourth-most offensive touches behind Beckham, Barkley, Evan Engram, or maybe even the fifth-most behind Sterling Shepard too, there is a good reason to believe that he could cause a problem in the locker room based on his history. This is something the Giants are looking to avoid on their football team in 2018.