Dez Bryant and the Dallas Cowboys have signed a long-term deal.

AFP/Dallas

The Dallas Cowboys settled the contract saga surrounding star receiver Dez Bryant on Wednesday after agreeing a long-term deal worth a reported $70mn over five years.
The Cowboys and Bryant inked the deal shortly before the expiration of a deadline for franchise-tagged players to negotiate a multi-year contract.
The National Football League powerhouse signalled the deal in a series of posts on Twitter, showing pictures of Bryant putting pen to paper before posing with the contract alongside Cowboys executive Charlotte Anderson, the daughter of owner Jerry Jones.
ESPN cited league sources as saying that the deal would see Bryant earn $70mn over five years, an average of $14mn per season. Around $45mn of the deal would be guaranteed.
News of the deal ends an increasingly tense stand-off between the Cowboys and Bryant, who has averaged 91 receptions, 1,312 yards and 14 touchdowns in the past three seasons.
Bryant, who led the NFL with 16 touchdown catches last season, had been given a one-year franchise player designation for next season that would have seen him earn $12.8mn.
The 26-year-old Texan had been holding out for a lucrative long-term deal however, threatening to effectively go on strike unless the Cowboys met his demands.
“As much as I love football...on my beautiful babies.. I apologize #cowboynation but I will not be there if no deal #fact,” Bryant tweeted on Monday, warning that he was prepared to skip training camp and miss 2015 season games.
The Denver Broncos also landed their star receiver before the deadline, inking Demaryius Thomas to a long-term deal reported to be worth $70mn over five years.
Thomas has 351 receptions for 5,317 yards, with 41 touchdowns in 69 regular-season games during his first five NFL seasons with the Broncos—who selected him in the first round of the 2010 draft.
Thomas has three consecutive seasons with at least 92 catches, 1,430 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns.
While the spotlight was on elite receivers Bryant and Thomas as the signing deadline neared, the Kansas City Chiefs made some noise with a multi-year deal for outside linebacker Justin Houston.
The Chiefs did not confirm terms of the contract, but the reported six-year deal worth $101mn would make him the NFL’s second-highest paid defensive player behind Miami Dolphins defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh.
New York Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, who left hospital on Tuesday after having his right index finger amputated following a fireworks accident, remained in contract limbo, failing to sign a long-term deal with the Giants.
Pierre-Paul has not yet signed his one-year franchise player offer, and might not until he is confident he can pass the team physical in the wake of his injury.