According to Chris Mortensen, Cowboys TE Jason Witten is planning to retire after 15 years in the NFL and join ESPN’s new Monday Night Football broadcast team as a lead analyst.
However, Mortensen adds that Witten will meet on Friday with owner Jerry Jones before making his decision final.
Making a decision now would at least give the Cowboys an opportunity to find a replacement for him in this year’s draft.
There has been talk that Witten could retire following the 2017 season the past few months so this doesn’t come as a complete surprise. Although, Witten said back in January that he planned to be back with the team.
“Oh, I’m back,” Witten said, via the Dallas Morning News. “I’m coming back. I love playing this game too much and I know that I can play it at a high level.”
Witten also had interest from Fox to be their new Thursday Night Football analyst.
Witten, 35, is a former third-round pick of the Cowboys back in 2003. He is in the second year of his five-year, $29.6 million contract and stands to make a base salary of $5.75 million for the 2018 season.
In 2017, Witten appeared in 16 games for the Cowboys and caught 63 passes for 560 yards receiving and five touchdowns. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 19 tight end out of 72 qualifying players.
Looking for the latest NFL Insider News & Rumors?
Be sure to follow NFL Trade Rumors on TWITTER and FACEBOOK for breaking NFL News and Rumors for all 32 teams!
