IRVING, Texas -- How serious is Dez Bryant about possibly missing regular-season games?

According to ESPN’s Ed Werder, Bryant called Dallas Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones last week to inform him he will not be at training camp and will miss regular-season games if he does not have a long-term deal in placed by 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Jones denied Bryant called.

There is no financial benefit for Bryant to miss games. Once Wednesday’s deadline passes, he must play this season on the $12.823 million franchise tag. Bryant will forfeit roughly $754,000 for each game he misses. Theoretically Bryant could miss the first 10 games of the season and still gain an accrued season and go through the same process in 2016.

The only potential benefit would be if the Cowboys agreed not to use the franchise or transition tag in 2016.

But why give up millions that he won't get back?

That’s why the Cowboys believe ultimately Bryant will show up if a long-term deal is not agreed upon by Wednesday.

So who blinks?

Both sides need each other.

If the Cowboys want to make a Super Bowl run, then they need Bryant, who led the NFL in touchdown receptions in 2014 (16) and has posted three straight years with at least 88 catches, 1,200 yards and 12 touchdowns.

As much as DeMarco Murray’s 1,845 rushing yards changed the Cowboys’ identity in 2014, Bryant’s big-play ability made the offense dynamic. Without Murray and Bryant, the Cowboys’ offense in general, and Tony Romo in particular, would be hampered.

But Bryant’s success has come in part due to the Cowboys’ ability to help him on and off the field. They have offered a structure that he did not have in his life before he joined the team in 2010, and he has flourished.

By calling Jones, however, Bryant has upped the ante. The Cowboys can still view it as an idle threat if they choose. That might be the right economical call, but the wrong call for success on the field.

There have been little to no talks between the two sides. The discussions late last month did not propel the sides much closer to a deal, leaving them in this situation with two days to go.

In a perfect world, the Cowboys would have wrapped up a long-term deal for Bryant not long after they signed Tyron Smith to a 10-year deal last summer. They thought they were close to a deal in the middle of last season when things fell apart and led to Bryant hiring Roc Nation with Tom Condon and Kim Miale as lead negotiators.

But this is the world the Cowboys and Bryant now live in. It’s far from perfect, but they can still have a happy ending.

The Cowboys can get a deal they want. Bryant can get the cash he wants.

The two sides have less than two days to get it done.

From the time the Cowboys placed the tag on Bryant in March, this appeared to be the only path to a long-term contract.

Jones and Condon have a long history of working deals, but it was almost as if both sides were just playing the waiting game, knowing the talks would not get serious until the final hours.

The Cowboys’ 2014 season ended in Green Bay with many wondering why Bryant’s fourth-down catch at the Packers 1 wasn’t a catch.

Now the Cowboys’ 2015 season is about to start with many wondering what’s the catch between the Cowboys and Bryant?