One year remains on Jason Witten‘s contract, and the Cowboys tight end as of now plans on playing it out. The 34-year-old stalwart said he wants to return for the 2017 season.
“I’m in my 14th year, and you know there’s a shelf life for everybody,” Witten said, via Brandon George of the Dallas Morning News. “You put everything you have into it, and when you come up short it’s tough. It’s not about a paycheck. … I’ll take time to reflect on it. I love this team and this group of guys and so, yeah, that will be the plan for sure.”
The career-long Cowboy finished his 14th season with 69 receptions for 673 yards and three touchdowns, and while he’s fallen off the Pro Bowl and All-Pro pace of his earlier years, Witten finished sixth among tight ends in catches this season despite operating in a run-oriented offense. He added his first playoff touchdown in Sunday’s loss. Witten ranks seventh all-time with 1,089 career receptions — second among tight ends in NFL history.
He stands to make $7.4MM in base salary next season in the final campaign of a five-year, $37MM deal. But the tight end’s cap number spikes from $5.862MM this season to $12.262MM in what would be his 15th season. The future Hall of Famer restructured his deal to help the Cowboys’ cap situation.