It remains to be seen if longtime Cowboys tight end Jason Witten will retire for a job in the Monday Night Football booth, but a decision is expected to likely come by Wednesday, ESPN’s Chris Mortensen tweets. Mortensen adds that a competing network has swooped in at the last minute with an “interesting” proposal that will also be considered. 
News came down Friday that the 15-year veteran was to call it quits on a Hall of Fame career to join the ESPN crew, but following a meeting with owner Jerry Jones, Witten decided to mull his options. Those options apparently have now expanded to a second network, though that job remains a mystery.
Mortensen also reports that Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett is actively petitioning the Cowboys’ all-time leading receiver to return for a 16th season (Twitter link). It should not come as a surprise the coach is doing everything he can to get Witten to return. Should Witten retire, the remaining tight ends on the roster would be relative unknowns Geoff Swaim, Rico Gathers, Blake Jarwin and the recently drafted Dalton Schultz.
The team could have added Dallas Goedert, the highly touted tight end out of South Dakota State, but the division-rival Eagles swooped in front of the Cowboys in the second round of the draft to take him. It is unclear if the Cowboys would have pulled the trigger on Goedert, but with the potential absence of Witten it made a lot of sense.
Before the news broke on Friday, it had been long expected that Witten would return for a 16th season and potentially play even longer. He recently commented that he wanted to play until he was 40. Despite the recent turnover, however, top jobs in the booth don’t come around every day.
… Besides the fact that they were passing the phone around the room congratulating Connor Williams, knowing the Eagles weren’t taking him.
The Cowboys drafted a player to replace recently retired James Hanna, a veteran blocking TE. They drafted Dalton Schultz with their comp 4th, the TE they saw as the best blocking TE in the draft. This was not a “gaping hole” on the roster, which might explain why they used a late pick on a TE instead of a high one. They already had 3 other TEs on the roster that they have been diligently preparing for the day Witten retires.
But yeah, let’s just roll with the fun speculation without thinking too hard about it.
Exactly what you said..these dudes live to speculate and make stuff up especially when it comes to the Cowboys and people eat it up.. cause it’s the Cowboys..it’s gotten really old..
I think it’s mainly because the knowledge is spread so thin across 30 teams. They don’t know any team intimately.
I think it’s mainly because the knowledge is spread so thin across 32 teams. They don’t know any one team intimately.
You cowboy fans are the biggest jokes… that 4 headed monster u now have at TE is sure raising fear among the other 31 teams lmao. David Akers said it well this past weekend! This ain’t coming from an eagles fan either
Cowboys are a JOKE. The owner craves more attention than the players and has been making terrible moves ever since he fired Jimmy Johnson. Can’t wait to see who they blame this upcoming failed season, since DEZ is gone.
Please, please, let the “interesting offer” be to replace Chris Collinsworth.