Of the three options for Jason Witten regarding the 2020 season, he has eliminated one of them. The future Hall of Fame tight end does not intend to retire and has decided he wants to play a 17th season, per David Moore of the Dallas Morning News (on Twitter).
The next question will be where Witten plays. He has indicated leaving the Cowboys for another team is on the table, but Witten reiterated Tuesday night he wants to play the 2020 season in Dallas.
“I think I have to be,” Witten said about being open to playing for another team (via The Athletic’s Jon Machota, on Twitter). “Obviously that’s not ideal. I would love to finish it out here. … It’s a good young group of tight ends. I think I can help them in a lot of ways.”
However, the Cowboys have changed coaches for the first time in nearly 10 years. And Witten is not likely to return to the team, Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets. No one in the Cowboys’ 60-season history has played more games with the team than Witten, who has suited up for 255 contests since being a Dallas third-round pick in 2003. If Witten plays 16 games in 2020, he will break Tony Gonzalez‘s record for most games played by a tight end (270).
Witten retired after the 2017 season, but after a one-year stint on the Monday Night Football broadcast team, he returned to the Cowboys via one-year deal. Witten nearly duplicated his 2017 numbers, matching his catch total (63) while amassing 529 yards and four touchdowns. Yet again, he did not miss a game. Witten has played in an astounding 255 of a possible 256 regular-season games in his career.
Connections to the Giants have understandably surfaced, given Jason Garrett‘s status as Big Blue’s offensive coordinator. The Cowboys have a greater tight end need than the Giants, however. If Mike McCarthy‘s team does not bring back Witten, it will be interesting to see how it proceeds. The Cowboys did not feature much of note at the tight end spot during Witten’s 2018 NFL sabbatical.
Emmet Brown COMMENDED
He would be the ideal veteran to join the Giants and mentor their future starter at TE, Kaden Smith.
Ever heard of Evan Engram?
Give it up already. What a career and now looking foolish.
As long as he’s not in the booth. He’s a much better football player than he is a commentator. Shockingly still better than Booger though, it’s insane how terrible that guy is.
Booger says “ if Jason written retires that means his career is over”
Witten and Gronk should probably co-star in a Hollywood movie that involves people frantically trying to escape from dinosaurs.