Dallas Cowboys Part Ways With Dez Bryant After 8 Seasons

Dez fans -- send us your favorite photos of you in your Bryant jerysey or "Throwing up the X" and we may use it on air or in our growing online gallery of fan photos.  Email the photos to iSee@nbcdfw.com.

After eight seasons, the Dallas Cowboys are parting company with their dynamic, show-stopping wide receiver, Dez Bryant.

• Jerry Quote on Dez we hold Dez Bryant in the highest regard, and we are grateful for his passion, spirit and contributions to this team for the past eight years

After weeks of speculation, and citing a source within the team, NBC 5's Jean-Jacques Taylor Dez broke the news of Bryant's release on Twitter late Friday morning.

Bryant, 29, arrived at The Star in Frisco at about 11 a.m. for a much-anticipated meeting with team owner Jerry Jones -- the subject of which, many speculated, was that the receiver's future with America's Team had come to an end.

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Less than an hour later, Dez left The Star, waved to media and fans outside, and posting a series of tweets confirming he'd been cut saying "let's start the process #unbothered #ThrowUptheX" and "Cowboy nation I need you to know this wasn't my decision. I will always love y'all. Forever Dallas in my heart."

He'd follow that with more tweets, thanking fans and saying "The love is real. Thank you."

A statement by Jones issued on behalf of the team said cutting Dez was not an easy decision and that it was made in the best interest of the team after collective input from "several voices."

As an organization we hold Dez Bryant in the highest regard, and we are grateful for his passion, spirit and contributions to this team for the past eight years. He will always be a valued member of our family. Dez and I share a personal and professional relationship that is very strong, and he is one of just a handful of players with whom I have become that close to over the past 30 years. This was not an easy decision.  It was made based upon doing what we believe is in the best interest of the Dallas Cowboys. We arrived at this crossroad collectively with input from several voices within the organization. Ultimately we determined it was time to go in a new direction.

Former Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman told NBC 5 Friday he was surprised the team cut Bryant, but certainly understands the need to make business decisions based on money.

"A little suprised," Aikman said. "I thought they would probably be able to work something out where they could make the business side of it financially work -- but unfortunately this is a big business and I've been on that end of it, I was released myself at the end of my career and decisions have to be made by the organization that's going to improve their football team."

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Taylor said earlier in the week that if the Cowboys were smart, they'd cut Dez before voluntary workouts began Monday, saving themselves some money and answering a lot of questions for teammates about Bryant's future with the squad.

Bryant has been terrific with the Cowboys and a longtime fan favorite. He’s their all-time leader with 73 career touchdowns, 531 receptions and 7,459 yards as well as countless unforgettable moments, Taylor recalled.

In his eight seasons, Dez has eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark three times - in 2012, 2013 and 2014. In each of those years Dez also scored more than a dozen touchdowns. Since an injury 2015, he's not been close to reproducing those numbers however.

NBC 5's Pat Doney, Jean-Jacques Taylor and Frank Heinz contributed to this report.