Cowboys' Jason Witten expected to retire and join ESPN's Monday Night Football, sources confirm
The Jason Witten era is finally coming to an end for the Dallas Cowboys.
Witten plans to retire after 15 years and join ESPN's "Monday Night Football" as its lead analyst, sources confirmed. ESPN reported Witten's imminent decision first.
Witten, who turns 36 on May 6, met with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on Friday about the decision to walk away from the game.
Jones addressed Witten's status briefly during a news conference to introduce first-round pick Leighton Vander Esch. Jones said Witten had not made any "definite" decisions on his future.
"He has some things to think about and discuss with his family from a professional perspective,” Jones said. “He also told me he is going to need some more time for consideration, at least through the weekend. He has not made any decisions that are definite at this time. We have no announcement at this time.
"I’ve talked to Jason several times this week. I’ve met with him, I met with him as late as just a few hours ago, and we’ve had great discussions. I’ll keep the details of those discussions private forever."
But per sources, Witten has decided to call it a career and will follow through on those plans, barring a last-minute change of heart.
It's a decision that has been weighing on him for more than two weeks, dating to when he initially auditioned with ESPN for the role on Monday Night Football, although he kept the Cowboys in the dark.
It's something he knew about when seemingly Witten made it clear less than 10 days ago that he intended to play a 16th season. He even went as far as saying he wanted to play until he was 40.
It's a monumental change of heart for Witten who has consistently said he was committed to the Cowboys for 2018.
After last season's finale at Philadelphia, Witten said: "I know this: The burn is strong inside me to play at a high level and to be a part of one of these groups of guys and one of the leaders to see this thing through and go try to compete for a championship.
"When I wake up tomorrow, that's where my focus will be as I move forward. It hurts because you don't get a whole lot more opportunities at this and I realize that. But rest assured that I'm going to do everything in my power to help us be better as we move forward. And I think it needs to be clear that it starts with yourself."
Plans to play another year, though, have changed. Witten will join his former teammate, Tony Romo, in going straight from the field to the broadcast booth. Romo left last off-season to become CBS Sports' lead NFL analyst.
Witten’s impending departure will have ripple effect to how the Cowboys will approach the final two days of the draft.
Tight end was already a need after the retirement of James Hanna last month and thoughts of finally finding a successor to Witten, who was already in year-to-year mode.
Now the situation is even more urgent.
The Cowboys have just three tight ends left on the roster in Geoff Swaim, Blake Jarwin and Rico Gathers. The threesome has a combined nine career catches.
Swaim, who is considered more of a blocking tight end, has all nine of those catches and will be a restricted free agent after the season. Jarwin spent much of last year on the practice squad and Gathers, who missed of all last season with a concussion, remains in developmental mode after making the transition to football in 2016 following a standout basketball career at Baylor.
The top tight ends left on the draft board are South Dakota State’s Dallas Goedert, Penn State’s Mike Gesicki, Oklahoma’s Mark Andrews and Indiana’s Ian Thomas.
Of course, the Cowboys will be hard pressed to find anyone to match Witten's legacy.
He will leave the team after 15 years in which he put together a Hall of Fame career.
He is a member of the 1,000-catch club with 1,152, went to 11 Pro Bowls and started 229 of 239 career games.
Witten is the Cowboys' franchise leader in receiving yards with 12,448 yards and receiving touchdowns by a tight end with 68.
Witten holds several other team records, too, including consecutive games with a catch (130), most consecutive games played (235), most games played (239) and most consecutive games started (179).
The last time Witten didn't start a Cowboys game? Dec. 10, 2006.
More than that, Witten was the unquestioned leader of the team. He is the player the organization pointed to for youngsters to follow.
Witten won the 2012 Walter Payton Man of the Year award, and is now the namesake for a similar award in the college ranks.
This story was originally published April 27, 2018 at 11:25 AM with the headline "Cowboys' Jason Witten expected to retire and join ESPN's Monday Night Football, sources confirm."