NFL First-round pick eager to pitch in

SAN ANTONIO — SAN ANTONIO - Dez Bryant was more than on time for the start of the Dallas Cowboys training camp. The firstround pick was the first player on the field Saturday.

Wearing the No. 88 jersey assigned to him right after being drafted, Bryant emerged from the Alamodome tunnel about 45 minutes before the start of the Cowboys’ first workout. The receiver from Oklahoma State then caught passes from undrafted rookie quarterback Matt Nichols.

Bryant had alleviated any concern about him missing any workouts when he agreed to terms of a five-year contract even before getting to San Antonio. He signed it after he arrived for the NFL’s longest full-squad camp this year.

“I’m going to use the phrase, not on time, before time,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Friday while commending Bryant and his agent, Eugene Parker, for getting the deal done. “They both knew that this thing was important to set a tone, set an impression. ... Boy, that’s a good sign.”

His early arrival on the field was probably viewed as a good sign as well. Bryant acknowledged the growing crowd with a wave and then ran a variety of routes long before Tony Romo and the rest of the Cowboys came out of the locker room.

Dallas is the first team to have its full squad on the field, and no other teams are scheduled to have that until Wednesday. The Cowboys play their preseason opener in two weeks as part of the ProFootball Hall of Fame weekend that will include NFL career rushing leader and three-time Super Bowl champion Emmitt Smith’s induction.

Once practice got started, an opening workout without pads, Bryant made several acrobatic and one-handed catches in drills without defenders. On one sideline route, he reached back with his left hand to make the grab, then managed to stay inbounds.

The Cowboys traded up three spots in April to get Bryant with the 24th overall pick after the talented receiver slipped in the draft amid questions about his character. But Dallas did its homework after he was limited to only three games for Oklahoma State last season after his NCAA suspension for lying to investigators about a meeting with former Cowboys star Deion Sanders.

There were then concerns when Bryant picked the same agent as his buddy and fellow receiver Michael Crabtree, a first-rounder whose holdout last season lasted into late October. The signing of draft picks was also complicated by NFL labor uncertainty.

But Bryant agreed to his deal Thursday that will guarantee him at least $8.3 million. His base salary this season will be $320,000, but Bryant got a $1.95 million signing bonus and gets another $570,000 roster bonus during camp.

All six of the Cowboys draft picks were signed. The only one not practicing was safety Akwasi Owusu-Ansah, the fourth-round pick still recovering from left shoulder surgery in March.