Is Cowboys Nation Ready For Jason Witten In An Enemy NFL Uniform?
FRISCO - Dallas Cowboys officials continue to say nothing, seemingly in polite deference to the iconic greatness of Jason Witten. Witten himself continues to talk plenty - he was seemingly everywhere at Super Bowl Week - without really actually saying anything, either, beyond this:
"I just want to exhaust every opportunity to play and obviously try to play in a game like this - the Super Bowl," Witten said from Miami.
One way of looking at the delay: Witten is still undecided about his future with the Cowboys. A more accurate way, we think:
The Cowboys have decided on a future without Witten.
We agree with Todd Archer of ESPN who writes that he suspects that Witten will play elsewhere in 2020 if he continues his NFL career.
But that sentence tucks away more than one "if.''
At the end of the 2017 season, Witten opted to retire after 15 seasons with the Cowboys to work a high-profile ESPN gig on Monday Night Football. Witten decided he had more football in him - and decided maybe TV isn't for him - and returned to Dallas in 2019, started at tight end, and totaled 63 receptions for 529 yards and four touchdowns.
Is there an NFL team that could use that sort of production from a 38-year-old tight end? Is the production destined to decline, and soon, as the "ageless'' Witten ages? Does he want to hang on so desperately that he would do so with a non-contender, in a city away from his DFW-based family, maybe as a backup?
There is that noise about offensive coordinator Jason Garrett wanting to lure his old pal to the New York Giants. But they have Evan Engram at tight end; he was a first-round pick in 2017 and has shown explosiveness as a pass-catcher. He was leading the Giants with 44 catches for 467 yards through eight games before sustaining a foot injury. Additionally, the Giants used a sixth-round pick in 2019 on Kaden Smith, and he took over at tight end, playing in nine games to total 31 catches for three touchdowns.
Engram is 25. Smith is 22. What would be Jason Witten's job there?
Jason Witten as a backup in Detroit or Tampa or someplace doesn't sound like a fate his host of admirers will enjoy. But the Cowboys seem to have made their decision. ... leaving Witten looking for a partner to help him make his.
