A quick look at how things stood hours before the meeting, and what might be ahead:
— Bryant was active on Twitter on Thursday with a series of posts, including this lament about media (but actually, he says, he’s OK): “I never in my life heard so much media try to destroy a single soul which is very sad but what is so great is that I’m so un F—ing bothered.”
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More tweets, replies, retweets and acknowledgements followed, but the two most pertinent were:
— Now that the world knows for sure when and where the meeting will be, there’s a good chance there will have a circus atmosphere outside the facility, especially if people decide to take this tweeted advice:
— The 29-year-old Bryant is due to make $12.5 million in 2018, and his cap number is $16.5 million. He’s coming off a 2017 season in which he had 69 receptions and six touchdowns but also a career-low 12.1-yard average. Speculation about him needing to accept a pay cut or face being released before organized team activities begin Monday have been steady throughout the offseason. Dallas radio station KRLD-FM this week reported on a possible parting.
The NFL world is ready for the speculation to end with the meeting at The Star.
