Drafting a Tight End = Bad Idea

[Jumbo075]

The Cowboys just signed Jason Witten to a CAP friendly, 4-year contract extension last season that allows them to cut him at any time without incurring any future cap charges. Witten received no signing bonus, and his actual salary starts at $5.75 million, and drops every year to his eventual salary level of $3.5 million in 4 years. But he makes that up with weekly roster bonuses, so that if he's on the team another full 4 seasons, and is on the active roster every week, he still makes $6.5 million per season in combined salary and roster bonuses.

The very fact that the Cowboys signed their future HOF tight end to this deal is why drafting a tight end before the 5th round is a complete waste of draft capital. Witten, despite his many detractors, tied Bob Lilly this year by making his 11th Pro Bowl appearance, albeit as a replacement for Super Bowl bound Zach Ertz.

Witten is decried by some for not being a speedster in the middle of the field. But Witten was NEVER a speester. He's a technician. Yes, his production has recently declined, but so has the production of Dez -Bryant. Terrance Williams TD production has also fallen off the edge of a cliff. The common denominator in all of these "declines" has been the absence of Tony Romo. Receiving passes from Brandon Weeden, Matt Cassel, Kellen Moore, Mark Sanchez, and yes, Dak Prescott is a more likely explanation to the supposed decline of Witten and the other receivers.

Getting back to the drafting of a tight end, it simply makes no sense to waste a high draft pick on someone (like Fasano, Bennett, and Escobar) who is going to sit for another 4 years while Witten continues to take almost all the offensive snaps on the field. The bevy of 6th and 7th round players the Cowboys have in Hanna, Swaim, and Gathers is more than sufficient to back up Witten. So, let's just stop talking about finding Witten's replacement until he actually retires.

Until then, better to focus on improving the QB play, so that ALL of the Cowboys receivers can pull out of their "slumps." Using a 2nd or 3rd round pick on a QB to challenge Prescott is a better idea than wasting yet another high pick on a TE.

Note: Same argument applies to why it is stupid to use a high pick on a WR. Sign speedster John Brown in FA, and be done with it.

 

[robjay04]

Nope.

“Witten playing all the snaps” is not an excuse for this staff.

Tell Witten to sit down. He is not the coach.

This offense needs playmaking ability from the TE position. In my opinion, it may be the biggest need on the entire team

It would be nice to have a TE that is a red zone threat. It would be nice to have a TE that could get down field.
It would be nice to have a TE that can catch those 5 yard passes and then up field.

 

[diefree666]

this idea that witten will not sit down is just another indictment of the culture and lack of professionalism that this franchise has shown. Chaz Green is another example of someone who should not have been kept but also kept being given chances that he has mostly failed. If Hanna or whoever can do better than Witten then they need to play and the staff needs to grow some stones.

 

[John813]

I disagree.

God save this team if Witten is the starter past this year.
Not a Witten basher, but c'mon man.

 

[ehwqkbmg]

Even if his first name is Dallas?

 

[sunalsorises]

When the apocalypse comes we will be left with Jason Witten playing football for the Dallas Cowboys and Kieth Richards eating twinkies.

 

[Longboysfan]

Hopefully the Cowboys start to scale back the number of snaps Witten takes.

 

[JW82]

The Cowboys just signed Jason Witten to a CAP friendly, 4-year contract extension last season that allows them to cut him at any time without incurring any future cap charges. Witten received no signing bonus, and his actual salary starts at $5.75 million, and drops every year to his eventual salary level of $3.5 million in 4 years. But he makes that up with weekly roster bonuses, so that if he's on the team another full 4 seasons, and is on the active roster every week, he still makes $6.5 million per season in combined salary and roster bonuses.

The very fact that the Cowboys signed their future HOF tight end to this deal is why drafting a tight end before the 5th round is a complete waste of draft capital. Witten, despite his many detractors, tied Bob Lilly this year by making his 11th Pro Bowl appearance, albeit as a replacement for Super Bowl bound Zach Ertz.

Witten is decried by some for not being a speedster in the middle of the field. But Witten was NEVER a speester. He's a technician. Yes, his production has recently declined, but so has the production of Dez -Bryant. Terrance Williams TD production has also fallen off the edge of a cliff. The common denominator in all of these "declines" has been the absence of Tony Romo. Receiving passes from Brandon Weeden, Matt Cassel, Kellen Moore, Mark Sanchez, and yes, Dak Prescott is a more likely explanation to the supposed decline of Witten and the other receivers.

Getting back to the drafting of a tight end, it simply makes no sense to waste a high draft pick on someone (like Fasano, Bennett, and Escobar) who is going to sit for another 4 years while Witten continues to take almost all the offensive snaps on the field. The bevy of 6th and 7th round players the Cowboys have in Hanna, Swaim, and Gathers is more than sufficient to back up Witten. So, let's just stop talking about finding Witten's replacement until he actually retires.

Until then, better to focus on improving the QB play, so that ALL of the Cowboys receivers can pull out of their "slumps." Using a 2nd or 3rd round pick on a QB to challenge Prescott is a better idea than wasting yet another high pick on a TE.

Note: Same argument applies to why it is stupid to use a high pick on a WR. Sign speedster John Brown in FA, and be done with it.

I agree it is not first 3 rounds worthy, but for different reasons. I don't think they would know how to use one even if Wit retired. Let the next coach draft a new one that actually has a plan for a TE, beyond 5 yard option routes.

 

[LACowboysFan1]

I disagree.

God save this team if Witten is the starter past this year.
Not a Witten basher, but c'mon man.

You do realize Witten was the 7th rated tight end last year? 7th in receptions, 12th in yards and 10th in tds (only 3 behind the much heralded Ertz, Gronkowski and Kelce)?

His average per catch was 80th, but that's more a function of the team not going downfield much to anybody, since Dak was under pressure a lot. And Witten is Dak's security blanket, Witten hangs around close to the line of scrimmage so Dak can dump the ball off to Witten to avoid a loss of yardage. He's not going downfield because of the offensive scheme, not Witten's lack of speed. He never had better than an 11.9 average per catch, he was never fast, but speed doesn't help you if you can't get open.

And you have to make your tight end a focus of the offense for him to have the great stats, and the Cowboys are set up for Elliot to be the focus, tight end is not going to be a big part of your offense in that case.

But the Cowboys do need to develop Hanna or Gathers or whoever, no doubt about that, Witten won't play forever. And drafting a tight end in later rounds wouldn't hurt, Gronkowski was a second round pick. Jimmy Graham was a third round pick. So there's tight end talent in later rounds.

Like receiver, imho, tight end is not at the top of the list for needs on this team...

 

[cern]

Whether or not I'd draft a tight end depends on who's available when we pick.

 

[tm1119]

Mind boggling to me how someone can watch the Cowboys play and not see that they need a TE who can stretch the middle of the field. Love Witten and think he still has a role on this team...but it needs to be a reduced role.

-Athletic pass catching TE
-1 Tech to eat blockers and push the pocket
-Playmaking FS
-LB depth
-Someone who can play LT at least adequately if Tyron goes down
-Reliable #2 WR
-LG


In no order that’s what I see as the Cowboys biggest needs. No reason the front office shouldn’t be able to address those needs between free agency and the 5 or 6 picks we’ll have in rounds 1-4.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

If you can get a very good TE in the draft, possibly your next future HOF TE in the draft...you take it.
You give that guy a chance to learn from the best and play with the best and hope Witten passes the torch on to him.

We went years after Novacek looking for our next good, to great TE...we finally hit on Witten in the third. We got lucky other teams wiffed by taking other TEs in that draft as Jason was rated as a first rounder.

You don't pass on a good TE that might be our next great one just because the current one has a cap friendly deal in place...Heck if anything, that cap friendly deal in place makes it a better set of circumstances to draft a TE in a higher round if they are worth it.

 

[LACowboysFan1]

"-Athletic pass catching TE"

Gathers was drafted to be that guy, the injury severely hurt his development, would like to see more of him in games...

 

[Stash]

Nope.

“Witten playing all the snaps” is not an excuse for this staff.

Tell Witten to sit down. He is not the coach.

This offense needs playmaking ability from the TE position. In my opinion, it may be the biggest need on the entire team

It would be nice to have a TE that is a red zone threat. It would be nice to have a TE that could get down field.
It would be nice to have a TE that can catch those 5 yard passes and then up field.

I think that's a great point. You do what's best for the team, not any one player. Even if that player is an all-time great like Jason Witten.

Between salary and decreasing production, the situation is getting more and more difficult to manage. Something's gotta give.

 

[McKDaddy]

Witten shouldn't even be a consideration in my opinion.

The bigger question for me is if they draft a highly rated TE, does that mean Rico is done?

If Rico is still thought to be viable, I don't know why you would draft a TE until late to be a primary blocker.

 

[Sydla]

The Cowboys just signed Jason Witten to a CAP friendly, 4-year contract extension last season that allows them to cut him at any time without incurring any future cap charges. Witten received no signing bonus, and his actual salary starts at $5.75 million, and drops every year to his eventual salary level of $3.5 million in 4 years. But he makes that up with weekly roster bonuses, so that if he's on the team another full 4 seasons, and is on the active roster every week, he still makes $6.5 million per season in combined salary and roster bonuses.

The very fact that the Cowboys signed their future HOF tight end to this deal is why drafting a tight end before the 5th round is a complete waste of draft capital. Witten, despite his many detractors, tied Bob Lilly this year by making his 11th Pro Bowl appearance, albeit as a replacement for Super Bowl bound Zach Ertz.

Witten is decried by some for not being a speedster in the middle of the field. But Witten was NEVER a speester. He's a technician. Yes, his production has recently declined, but so has the production of Dez -Bryant. Terrance Williams TD production has also fallen off the edge of a cliff. The common denominator in all of these "declines" has been the absence of Tony Romo. Receiving passes from Brandon Weeden, Matt Cassel, Kellen Moore, Mark Sanchez, and yes, Dak Prescott is a more likely explanation to the supposed decline of Witten and the other receivers.

Getting back to the drafting of a tight end, it simply makes no sense to waste a high draft pick on someone (like Fasano, Bennett, and Escobar) who is going to sit for another 4 years while Witten continues to take almost all the offensive snaps on the field. The bevy of 6th and 7th round players the Cowboys have in Hanna, Swaim, and Gathers is more than sufficient to back up Witten. So, let's just stop talking about finding Witten's replacement until he actually retires.

Until then, better to focus on improving the QB play, so that ALL of the Cowboys receivers can pull out of their "slumps." Using a 2nd or 3rd round pick on a QB to challenge Prescott is a better idea than wasting yet another high pick on a TE.

Note: Same argument applies to why it is stupid to use a high pick on a WR. Sign speedster John Brown in FA, and be done with it.

There is no doubt this is the logic the FO will use.

But it's idiotic.

Watch the SB and watch Ertz and Gronk and how they are weapons all over the field, then come back and tell us how it's all good with Witten, who basically runs mostly 5-7 yard curls all game.

And if Witten is our starting TE 3 years from now, we have a big problem.

 

[Sydla]

You do realize Witten was the 7th rated tight end last year? 7th in receptions, 12th in yards and 10th in tds (only 3 behind the much heralded Ertz, Gronkowski and Kelce)?

His average per catch was 80th, but that's more a function of the team not going downfield much to anybody, since Dak was under pressure a lot. And Witten is Dak's security blanket, Witten hangs around close to the line of scrimmage so Dak can dump the ball off to Witten to avoid a loss of yardage. He's not going downfield because of the offensive scheme, not Witten's lack of speed. He never had better than an 11.9 average per catch, he was never fast, but speed doesn't help you if you can't get open.

And you have to make your tight end a focus of the offense for him to have the great stats, and the Cowboys are set up for Elliot to be the focus, tight end is not going to be a big part of your offense in that case.

But the Cowboys do need to develop Hanna or Gathers or whoever, no doubt about that, Witten won't play forever. And drafting a tight end in later rounds wouldn't hurt, Gronkowski was a second round pick. Jimmy Graham was a third round pick. So there's tight end talent in later rounds.

Like receiver, imho, tight end is not at the top of the list for needs on this team...

Stop.

Just stop.

Witten can't get downfield like some of the other playmaking TEs in this league. It's not just the scheme. Witten simply doesn't have the explosion other TEs do.

Watch the winning TD in the Super Bowl, where Ertz takes a slant and runs leaping into the end zone. Witten couldn't do that if you put a jet pack on his back.

This thread highlights the problem with some fans, and with the front office. They get too nostalgic. Too much loyalty. The Cowboys should absolutely be looking to upgrade the TE position this offseason. I am not suggesting use a #1 pick on a guy but if one is there in the 2nd or 3rd, maybe you take one. Or maybe you spend a bit of cash in FA and take on a guy like Tyler Eifert, who has a big injury history but might come cheap. If healthy, he's got a skill set Witten never had.

 

[Aven8]

4 more years of Witten??

 

[LACowboysFan1]

Hanna. Swaim. Jarwin. Gathers. (If he is healed up).

If Witten is so bad, then there's FOUR other tight ends on the roster, let one of them take his place.

And I'm not "nostalgic" or "too loyal" about Witten. So he doesn't have blazing speed, did you not see the td pass he caught over the middle in a game last year? That was a slant pattern, too, Witten had no trouble scoring.

The Cowboys don't run their offense through the tight end, it runs through Elliot, Dez, Beasley and Williams. If they wanted Witten to make a lot more touchdowns, he could do it, but they're not going to throw to the tight end like the Chiefs do Kelce, or the Eagles do Ertz, or the Saints did Graham.

As far as speed goes, Gronk ran a 4.68 in the combine, he's not a speedster, either, but the Pats know how to get him open, and after he catches the ball, he gets blocking. Dallas has Witten go out 5 yards on a 3rd and 8 and throw him the ball while he's running parallel to the line of scrimmage or dead stopped.

Another tight end might be better, but it's not like Witten is the 30th ranked tight end, you're talking about someone else being the 1st ranked tight end instead of the 7th ranked tight end, it's not that much of an improvement, and NOT the reason we don't make the SB or win lots of playoff games, that requires better defense, better run blocking and better pass blocking.

Address those areas FIRST, is all I'm saying...

 

[Sydla]

Hanna. Swaim. Jarwin. Gathers. (If he is healed up).

If Witten is so bad, then there's FOUR other tight ends on the roster, let one of them take his place.

And I'm not "nostalgic" or "too loyal" about Witten. So he doesn't have blazing speed, did you not see the td pass he caught over the middle in a game last year? That was a slant pattern, too, Witten had no trouble scoring.

The Cowboys don't run their offense through the tight end, it runs through Elliot, Dez, Beasley and Williams. If they wanted Witten to make a lot more touchdowns, he could do it, but they're not going to throw to the tight end like the Chiefs do Kelce, or the Eagles do Ertz, or the Saints did Graham.

As far as speed goes, Gronk ran a 4.68 in the combine, he's not a speedster, either, but the Pats know how to get him open, and after he catches the ball, he gets blocking. Dallas has Witten go out 5 yards on a 3rd and 8 and throw him the ball while he's running parallel to the line of scrimmage or dead stopped.

Another tight end might be better, but it's not like Witten is the 30th ranked tight end, you're talking about someone else being the 1st ranked tight end instead of the 7th ranked tight end, it's not that much of an improvement, and NOT the reason we don't make the SB or win lots of playoff games, that requires better defense, better run blocking and better pass blocking.

Address those areas FIRST, is all I'm saying...

LOL. Anyone who thinks what Witten did there and what Ertz did is the same thing is going to be hard to take seriously at this point.

The other 4 TEs on the roster are just guys. Nothing more. Gathers is the only one who has real upside given his skill set. And maybe he develops, but the other 3 are backup TE types.

You undervalue the role of the TE in today's NFL, that's for sure. Especially for a team where a guy like a Gronk or Graham or Ertz would make Prescott a lot better.