Jason Witten

Jason Witten Committed To Playing In 2020

February 18th, 2020 at 7:41pm CST by Sam Robinson

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.

Latest On Dak Prescott, Cowboys FAs

February 8th, 2020 at 12:47pm CST by Ben Levine

We heard earlier this week that negotiations between the Cowboys and quarterback Dak Prescott could ultimately lead to a franchise tag. However, Stephen Jones clarified that the organization is still focused on completing a long-term deal before Prescott hits unrestricted free agency in March.

“We want to get this done,” Jones told Clarence E. Hill Jr. of the Dallas Star-Telegram. “Things are fixing to heat up. We want to put every foot forward and try to grind this out and get a deal done.

“I know he wants to get his contract in the rear view mirror and we want it too. We want him to be treated well, financially and respectfully. We are going to have a real urgency to get this done.”

There’s been optimism surrounding an extension for months, but the report from earlier this week cautioned that a deal wasn’t imminent. We heard back in January that the two sides were close to an agreement, with the Cowboys reportedly willing to give Prescott a contract worth $33MM per season. Hill Jr. notes that the quarterback is seeking a deal that would jump Russell Wilson‘s league-leading $35MM AAV.

“I don’t want to get into the details, but we have offered him significant money,” Jones said. “The money we have offered Dak no matter how you look at it would put him as a top five quarterback in the NFL. That is the way we feel about him. He is one of the best.”

Jones added that the team’s priority is signing their franchise quarterback, and they haven’t discussed contracts with any of their other free agents, including wideout Amari Cooper and pass-rusher Robert Quinn. Hill Jr. tweets that the organization also hasn’t decided whether they’ll bring back tight end Jason Witten or linebacker Sean Lee. We learned this morning that Lee wasn’t going to retire.

Dez Bryant Wants To Return To Cowboys

February 7th, 2020 at 9:37am CST by Zachary Links

Could Dez Bryant reunite with the Cowboys? Cowboys VP Stephen Jones says the wide receiver has reached out to him and he’s not ruling out the possibility of signing the veteran.

“He has texted me that he would like to come back,” Jones said (via Clarence Hill of the Star Telegram). “We have nothing but great respect for Dez and what he accomplished here. Certainly, as we look forward into the future we look at all opportunities and all potential players that could maybe help us out.”

There haven’t been advanced discussions regarding Bryant just yet, however. Jones explained that he has only started discussing personnel with head coach Mike McCarthy. The two haven’t made determinations on their own free agents either, so Jones says nothing has been decided regarding tight end Jason Witten or linebacker Sean Lee.

Bryant spent eight years with the Cowboys, racking up 531 catches, nearly 7,500 yards, and a franchise-high 73 receiving touchdowns. His run included three straight seasons of at least 88 grabs, 1,200 yards, and 12 touchdowns. During that window from 2012-2014, Bryant was one of the league’s best receivers, and the Cowboys gave him a lucrative contract to reflect his production.

Of course, things didn’t end too well for Bryant and the Cowboys. In his last three seasons with Dallas, Bryant failed to top 900 yards. Then, the Cowboys dropped him in April of 2018, which put him on the curb after most of the NFL’s available free agent dollars had been allocated. Midway through the ’18 season, Bryant hooked on with the Saints. He never suited up for them, however, thanks to an Achilles tear in practice. Last year, Bryant was away from the NFL and training for an eventual return.

Bryant, a three-time Pro Bowler, will turn 32 in November.

Jason Witten Open To Playing Elsewhere

January 30th, 2020 at 4:30pm CST by Sam Robinson

Less than a year ago, Jason Witten came out of retirement to rejoin the Cowboys. But they now have a new coaching staff, for the most part, making the future Hall of Famer’s status less certain.

Witten has not committed to retiring or returning to the Cowboys for a 17th season. Preferring to stay in Dallas, the 37-year-old tight end has discussed his future with Jerry Jones and new Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy. But the player with the fourth-most receptions in NFL history acknowledged a Dallas departure is also possible.

“I realize I’m a free agent too in March. Any time a new staff comes together, I’ve played a long time, so I realize that may mean somewhere else too,” Witten said, via Jon Machota of The Athletic (on Twitter).

Among active players, Witten’s 255 games as a Cowboy are the second-most anyone has played with one team. He trails only Tom Brady (280 games as a Patriot) in this regard. Despite spending a year in the ESPN broadcast booth, Witten nearly duplicated his 2017 numbers by catching 63 passes for 529 yards and four touchdowns in a more explosive Cowboys offense.

Kellen Moore will return as Dallas’ OC and call plays, but Witten has worked with Jason Garrett in each of his past 12 seasons. A rumor circulated recently about Witten reuniting with Garrett in New York. The Giants, however, are better-positioned at tight end with Evan Engram and Rhett Ellison under contract in 2020. The Cowboys have Blake Jarwin (31 catches this season) as a restricted free agent.

Jason Witten Could Join Giants?

January 19th, 2020 at 12:57pm CST by Rory Parks

The Giants recently hired former Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett as their new offensive coordinator, and another longtime Cowboy could be joining Garrett in the Meadowlands. Per ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, the Giants could look to sign tight end Jason Witten when free agency opens in March (Twitter link).

Witten has spent his entire career in Dallas, and after a one-year stint in the Monday Night Football broadcast booth in 2018, he rejoined the club in 2019. The 37-year-old showed he still has something left in the tank, posting 63 catches for 529 yards and four touchdowns.

Witten recently indicated that he is open to continuing his playing career in 2020, and the Giants could certainly use him. Although Big Blue will have Evan Engram at the top of its depth chart, it couldn’t hurt to have a reliable security blanket like Witten for second-year QB Daniel Jones.

Engram missed the second half of the 2019 season due to injury, and the Giants turned to sixth-round rookie Kaden Smith in his stead. Smith posted 31 catches for 268 yards and three scores, not bad for a rookie TE who was claimed off waivers in September, but perhaps not enough to preclude a one-year deal with Witten.

Garrett joined the Cowboys in 2007, so Witten played under him for 12 years. Dallas will almost certainly offer Witten a better chance than New York to capture a Super Bowl ring in 2020, so that consideration may trump his familiarity with, and respect for, Garrett. Indeed, Mortensen says there is no real clarity on Witten’s future at this point (Twitter link).

Cowboys’ Jason Witten To Keep Playing?

December 26th, 2019 at 2:03pm CST by Zachary Links

Sunday’s regular season finale could mark the final game of the Cowboys’ 2019 season and, in turn, the last game in Jason Witten‘s storied career. For what it’s worth, the tight end isn’t viewing Sunday’s contest against the Redskins as his swan song.

“I really don’t envision this being my last game. I just haven’t approached it that way,” the 37-year-old said (Twitter link via David Moore of the Dallas Morning News). “We’ll see what happens down the road.”

Witten rejoined the Cowboys after a year in the broadcast booth. Despite his advanced age and, perhaps, a bit of rust, Witten has remained productive. Appearing and starting in all 15 of the Cowboys’ games to date, Witten has notched 59 catches for 505 yards and four touchdowns. His per-catch average of 8.6 yards is a step back from his career average (10.7 per grab), but it appears that Witten still has plenty of offer, if he wants to continue his career.

Witten’s one-year, $3.5MM base-salaried deal will expire at the end of the season. After that, he figures to have plenty of options – the Cowboys would likely welcome him back for a 17th season on the field or he could even transition to coaching. If Witten wants to go to the sidelines, the Cowboys could have an opening for him.

NFC Notes: Witten, 49ers’ QB Trades, Kessler

August 17th, 2019 at 1:04pm CST by cwcrouse

Jason Witten made his return to the Cowboys after one year away from the club. As a former locker room leader of the franchise, integrating himself back into the fold could have been tricky, as new leaders have emerged in his absence. However, according to coach Jason Garrett, Witten has had no issues rejoining the team.

“Witt has been very mindful of that coming back,” Garrett said of Witten’s locker room role (via ESPN’s Ed Werder on Twitter). “He doesn’t want to be a guy the younger guys are constantly deferring to. He wants to integrate himself back into it, and he’s done that beautifully.”

Here’s more from around the league:

It appears the 49ers will hang on to both Nick Mullens and C.J. Beathard rather than trading one of the quarterbacks. “We haven’t had talks at all,” GM John Lynch said of the possibility of trades (via Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports’ Twitter feed).
Jimmy Ward was in full pads for the first time this week since he fractured his collarbone, Maiocco tweets. The 49ers gave him a one-year deal this past offseason.
Cody Kessler remains in the concussion protocol, per the Eagles‘ Twitter feed. The franchise signed Josh McCown earlier today to add depth at the QB spot.
While the Texans may want picks if they are going to trade Jadeveon Clowney, Eliot Shorr-Parks of WIP (Twitter link) contends that the Eagles should offer Derek Barnett straight up for him. Barnett, who was a first-round pick back in 2017, has two years remaining on his deal.

East Rumors: Witten, Mills, Patriots, Giants

June 17th, 2019 at 9:50pm CST by Sam Robinson

With minicamps having concluded, we are now in NFL’s true offseason. However, teams use this downtime to size up their rosters and determine which, if any, moves need to be made. Here is how some of the East franchises’ rosters look going into the break:

At first, Jason Witten‘s unretirement was believed to be centered around a part-time on-field role and for off-field leadership. But after the Cowboys‘ offseason program, Todd Archer of ESPN.com insists the 37-year-old tight end will play far more than the 25-snap role loosely pegged for the one-year ESPNer upon his return. Witten caught at least 60 passes from 2004-17, so it can be expected the Cowboys want to see him provide Dak Prescott with as much of a short- and mid-range option as he can handle in his comeback year. Backup Blake Jarwin (27 catches, 307 yards in 2018) did grade as Pro Football Focus’ No. 25 tight end last season, so it’s logical the team will use him plenty.
The Dolphins‘ initial hope was to slot former Bills starter Jordan Mills at the right tackle spot Ja’Wuan James‘ departure vacated, but that has not gone so well. Mills did not fare well during much of Miami’s minicamp, according to ESPN.com’s Cameron Wolfe, who writes Mills (48 starts as Buffalo’s right tackle since 2016) was “regularly exposed” during workouts. While it’s hard to tell how linemen are performing until the pads come on, and this Mills update runs counter to a report indicating right tackle was his job to lose. But Wolfe adds Jesse Davis replaced Mills during some practice sessions. The Dolphins would save $2MM by releasing Mills, who has started 82 games in six seasons.
Despite not his nomadic stretch since his Chargers days, Dontrelle Inman fared well as a Colts supporting-caster last season. He graded as one of the best part-time wideouts in the league, per Football Outsiders. But Jeff Howe and Nick Underhill of The Athletic leave the 30-year-old receiver off their Patriots‘ 53-man roster projection (subscription required), even in predicting Demaryius Thomas starts the season on the PUP list. The duo only have four true wideouts (Julian Edelman, N’Keal Harry, Maurice Harris, Phillip Dorsett) making the Pats’ roster, with Matthew Slater long used as a pure special-teamer. The Pats guaranteed Inman $300K.
The first post-Odell Beckham Jr. Giants receiving corps features clear-cut starters in Sterling Shepard and Golden Tate, but a Day 3 rookie may have an outside shot at being New York’s WR3. While Corey Coleman stands as Big Blue’s current No. 3 wideout, Ralph Vacchiano of SNY notes fifth-round pick Darius Slayton (Auburn) has a decent chance to supplant him. Pat Shurmur called Slayton the team’s most improved player this offseason, and Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com added the team seeks a downfield threat to team with Tate and Shepard. Slayton averaged at least 19 yards per catch in each of his three Auburn seasons.

NFC East Notes: Beckham Jr., Giants, Eagles, Cowboys

March 2nd, 2019 at 5:45pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

There’s been a lot of renewed discussion about the possibility of an Odell Beckham Jr. trade recently. Beckham Jr. was shopped last offseason, but a mega-extension he signed just before the season seemed to put any trade talk to rest. Just a year into his new record breaking deal however, the rumors have popped up again after Beckham Jr. clashed with his new coaching staff this past weekend. Speaking at the combine this week Giants GM Dave Gettleman didn’t completely shut the door on a potential trade, but said the team “didn’t sign Odell to trade him.”

To that end, Ralph Vacchiano of SNY says the Giants won’t get serious about trading him “unless they are overwhelmed with an offer.” On the other hand, Vacchiano also says head coach Pat Shurmur was “furious” with him at times last year over his antics, particularly when he gave an interview to ESPN where he openly questioned the team’s quarterback situation. Vacchiano also writes that the Giants “are often closer to the breaking point than they may publicly appear” with Beckham Jr. It’ll be a fascinating situation to monitor as the offseason unfold.

Here’s more from the NFC East:

After flirting with retirement, Eagles center Jason Kelce ended up signing an extension with the team today. We now have details on the extension, as the new deal will make Kelce the highest paid center in the league, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). Rapoport notes that the remaining three years on KElce’s contract will now pay him an average of $11MM per year. Kelce received Pro Football Focus’ top grade among all centers, so it makes sense why he’s being paid like it. Kelce is 31 now, and should have at least a couple more years left at an elite level.
Speaking of retirement, we have more details on Jason Witten‘s role with the Cowboys in his return. While we’ve already heard Witten won’t be playing a full allotment of snaps, owner “Jerry Jones does not believe the veteran will be a bit piece in the offense,” according to Todd Archer of ESPN.com. Per Archer, Jones said this week that he doesn’t think Witten’s “a progress stopper”, and that he’ll be “well worth the roster spot.” It sounds like Witten could play a meaningful role in the offense even after taking the year off.
The Eagles plan on having backup quarterback Nate Sudfeld back in camp next year coach Doug Pederson said from the combine, according to Les Bowen of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). Sirius XM’s NFL Insider Adam Caplan tweeted in response that Sudfeld, who is a restricted free agent, is an “interesting player who could draw strong interest from other teams if they use the low tender.” Pederson did say that the team doesn’t “just go around and give out jobs,” but they wanted Sudfeld to compete to be Carson Wentz‘s backup. Assuming another team doesn’t steal him away with an offer sheet, it sounds like Sudfeld should slide in and replace Nick Foles as the primary backup in Philly.

Cowboys Rumors: Earl Thomas, Witten, Draft

March 1st, 2019 at 8:14pm CST by Micah Powell

Seahawks free agent safety Earl Thomas is expected seek $15MM a year with his next deal, The Athletic’s Calvin Watkins tweets.

Watkins notes that figure might be too high for the Cowboys. Though possessing plenty of cap space this offseason, the team is expected to use most of that money in signing Demarcus Lawrence to a long-term deal and working on extensions for players like Dak Prescott and Byron Jones.

Thomas and the Cowboys have long been linked ever since the All-Pro safety told head coach Jason Garrett to “come get him” following a 2017 game. The Cowboys and Seahawks were in talks on trades for the star defender in the offseason but could not come to an agreement on draft-round compensation.

Thomas, a Texas native and longtime Cowboys fan, reportedly will not take a “hometown” discount with the team and is also expected to be courted by the 49ers.

Here’s more surrounding the Cowboys:

When asked whether the newly signed Jason Witten is a “coach in waiting,” owner Jerry Jones said that he will be with the team in the future, whether that is as a coach or in another position, ESPN’s Chris Mortensen tweets. After a year-long hiatus, Witten made a shocking decision when he decided to come back for another season in 2019. Long considered a future NFL coach, Witten is sure to make a move in that direction following what is, presumably, his last season.
Speaking of Witten, when the future Hall of Famer rejoined the team, it was expected the Cowboys would not take a tight end early in the draft. That might not be the case, as the team has already met with Iowa’s T.J. Hockenson, The Dallas Morning News’ Jon Machota tweets. Though they might have interest, the Cowboys do not possess their first-round pick thanks to the Amari Cooper trade and the college standout will likely be gone before their Day 2 selection.
Like we said earlier, the Cowboys are expected to use most of their cap space to resign their own players this year. The team has already met with the agents for Prescott, Jones and Cooper, and are expected to meet with Lawrence’s agent tonight, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Clarence Hill Jr. tweets. They have not met with Ezekiel Elliott‘s agent yet, but have indicated plenty of interest in resigning him at some point.

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