Jason Witten's retirement creates giant hole for Cowboys

Jason Witten said he thought he could play until he's 40, but instead he decided not to play one more game.

Can't blame him.

According to Chris Mortensen of ESPN, the veteran Dallas Cowboys tight end plans to retire after 15 NFL seasons. Per Mortensen, Witten will become the lead analyst for ESPN's Monday Night Football telecasts.

Witten has reportedly been approached multiple times by ESPN and Fox about joining their booths for NFL telecasts.

Witten should be a good analyst. As good as Tony Romo? No.

Witten had repeatedly denied reports of his retirement, and went so far as to express his desire to play until he is 40. Last year, Witten was implored by Bill Parcells, the coach who drafted him, to retire.

Witten will turn 36 this year and retire as one of the greatest players in the history of the franchise. He will be forever linked to Romo and an era that was maddeningly close but never good enough to reach an NFC title game.

Drafted in the third round out of Tennessee in 2003, he appeared in 15 games as a rookie. Since then, he started all 16 games every season. He caught 1,152 passes for 12,448 yards and 68 touchdowns.

Although the Cowboys had said drafting a tight end was not a priority, with Witten and James Hanna both retiring this off-season, the position is of great need now as the Cowboys prepare for Day 2 and Day 3 of the NFL Draft.

Forget the depth chart for a minute, the hole in the locker room without Witten will be something this franchise has not seen in well over a decade. Witten embodied the professionalism of the Dallas Cowboys.

His voice will now be on TV, which will leave Dak Prescott, Travis Frederick, Sean Lee, Tank Lawrence and Zack Martin to fill that role and create a new personality for the Dallas Cowboys.

And by retiring, Witten did one last favor for the Cowboys — they can draft his replacement as early as today.

This story was originally published April 27, 2018 at 11:40 AM with the headline "Jason Witten's retirement creates giant hole for Cowboys."