Dallas Cowboys: Jason Witten Retirement is No Surprise
By Erik Lambert
The Dallas Cowboys, in the space of just a couple months, have now lost their two best pass catchers. One to release and the other to retirement.
This shouldn’t exactly be welcome news for them given they finished 26th in passing last year to begin with. Smart money says they’re going to be running the ball a lot in 2018. A lot of fans didn’t welcome the news that 11-time Pro Bowler Jason Witten decided to hang things up. Though he’d had a somewhat down year for his usual standards with 560 yards and five touchdowns, it’s not like the dip was his fault. Everybody struggled last year.
Then again nobody should be surprised by this. What is there left to prove for Witten? He’s the all-time receiving yards leader in franchise history and one of just 37 players in all of NFL history to reach 10 or more Pro Bowls in his career. His place in Canton is assured and the odds favor him getting in on the first try. He turns 36-years old on May 6th this year. The man missed just one football game out of 240 possibles.
Let him go in peace.
Jason Witten is retiring from the Dallas Cowboys and joining ESPN as an analyst for Monday Night Football, per @toddarcher.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 3, 2018
Jason Witten finishes his HOF-caliber career with 1,152 catches, ranking 4th in NFL history, trailing only Jerry Rice, Tony Gonzalez and Larry Fitzgerald.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 3, 2018
Witten is the Cowboys' all-time leader in receiving yards (12,448) and 3rd in franchise history with 68 receiving TDs.
Dreams of Super Bowl died in 2016 for Witten
In truth, the only thing Witten had left to play for was that elusive Super Bowl ring. For years he’d been chasing that ghost, reaching the playoffs six times in his career but failing to even participate in an NFC championship game. The closest he ever got was the fabled contest in Green Bay in 2014 which featured the Dez Bryant non-catch that remains one of the biggest controversies to this day. Yet that’s not what spurred Witten’s decision. It was two years ago.
The 2016 season felt like it was the year. Dallas stampeded to a 13-3 record and locked up home field advantage for the playoffs. Everything was going their way. Then, as before, they lost a heartbreaker to the Packers. The 34-31 defeat was the sort that can often kill the drive to compete with older players like Witten. Yet he stuck it out for another year. Dallas did finish 9-7 but missed the playoffs, and now with the Eagles in firm control of the division, it looks like the window has closed.
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It’s not hard to see why Witten is choosing to move into the next phase of his football life. There is no reason to continue putting his body through another season if the one fruit he hopes to reach is no longer attainable.