The Dallas Cowboys have made a pretty big move related to a long-time veteran of the team and, no, it’s not Tony Romo. It’s Jason Witten, who has signed a four-year extension with the team according to a report from Todd Archer of ESPN.
Witten, a star with the Tennessee Volunteers, was drafted by the Cowboys in the third round of the 2003 NFL Draft. He’s spent his entire career in Dallas, developing into a Hall of Fame-caliber tight end and one of the most reliable pass-catchers in the entire NFL.
As Archer noted in his report, Witten is the franchise leader in receptions (1,089) and will become the franchise leader in games played and receiving yards (he trails Michael Irvin by just 16 yards heading into 2017).
Witten is also seventh in NFL history in receptions, trailing Tim Brown by five catches, Cris Carter by 12 catches and Marvin Harrison by 13. He’s within striking distance of Larry Fitzgerald, but the Cardinals wide receiver should pile up some receptions this year as well.
The deal is likely designed to push Witten’s salary cap number down, as the tight end was going to have more than a $12 million cap hit for the Cowboys in 2017. That’s a pretty massive number and now the Cowboys should have more space to work with.
Time will tell how many of those four years Witten will actually play, but it stands to reason that 2017 probably became fully guaranteed and Witten probably got some money for 2018 as well should he want to keep playing. We’ll see about the two other years, which are probably designed to help the Cowboys be flexible now, although Witten, who will turn 35 in May, could certainly keep playing as effective as he’s been.
Regardless, it is now absolutely guaranteed that Witten will finish his career with the Cowboys. That probably wasn’t going to be an issue before, but you better believe he isn’t playing anywhere else now.
Now we just need to wait and see how many players he can outlast (ahem, Tom Brady).
