The Cowboys need to pretend Witten and Sean Lee retired and stayed retired when drafting

[KJJ]

With Lee having his salary cut in half and being reduced to a part time player and Witten signing a one year deal the Cowboys will approach the draft as if both players aren't here because we’re not sure what we’ll get from either player and neither may be back in 2020. Lee misses multiple games every year, he can't be counted on and with an aging Witten being away from football for a year there may not be much left in his tank. The only thing that will change with Witten here is the Cowboys won't feel the need to reach for a TE with their first pick which is a good thing because their first pick is in the 2nd round and they could end up with another Escobar.

 

[Hardline]

Both Lee and Witten can still produce on this team.
Neither one of them are stopping anyoned progress and are still very capable players.
And neither one will influence how the Cowboys draft.

 

[Aerolithe_Lion]

You can get good RBs and LBs later on in the draft. If I were the Cowboys I would be looking to bolster both with mid round picks. (3rd to 4th). It's hard to get an impact tight end later on in the draft but this is supposed to be a fairly deep tight end draft. The Cowboys should be looking hard at that position too.

The Cowboys should not let Witten or Lee deter them from pursuing those positions on draft day.

If you didn’t have went, you very possibly would have gone TE in the second round. So you’re saying do that anyway... then cut Jerwin in training camp?

Witten is there, he costs a roster spot, and that minimizes your options at TE.

 

[Mannix]

Shouldn't have signed either....enough with the "nice stories".

 

[Verdict]

I may be the only one but I don't expect Witten to be as effective as a lot of people seem to think. He WAS a great TE. But he if coming out of retirement and he is old. He may be a better blocker than anyone else Dallas has on the roster but I don't see him making an impact in the passing game. I just hope he does not impede the development of the other Cowboys TEs.

I'm not expecting ANYTHING out of Lee or Witten. I'm expecting the worst out of both of them. If the team is smart it will be leaning that way as well.

 

[Verdict]

If you didn’t have went, you very possibly would have gone TE in the second round. So you’re saying do that anyway... then cut Jerwin in training camp?

Witten is there, he costs a roster spot, and that minimizes your options at TE.

We usually carry 4. We have 2 plus Witten right now. I am not counting on Gathers playing this season for the Cowboys. That leaves a prime opening for a draft pick.

 

[Verdict]

We already have viewed Sean Lee as retired, what do you think LVE was drafted for?

We have also drafted multiple TEs even when Witten was younger and playing at a high level. How many, about 4-5? Two of them came in the second round.

So what are you even talking about? You don't need to make a thread for every thought that comes into your head.

That's for stopping in. That's profound stuff right there.

 

[Verdict]

I doubt this team is relying on witten and lee to do much more than be leaders

If they’re expecting them to actually be vital parts on the field then these people are nuts

Most of the guys on this forum expect both of them to "beast". Go Cowboys.

 

[Verdict]

I am counting on the aging Sean Lee to make 0 plays for us this season.

I am figuring on lots of plays involving integers.

 

[Verdict]

The Cowboys won't draft based on Witten or Lee.

They will consider other players on the roster such as LBs like Covington and March-Lillard. I think they drafted Covington with the idea of him replacing Wilson at SLB. Covington has positive attributes. His development as a LB has been delayed relative to other players because he was a QB during his 1st season in college and in high school.

It won't be about just one player. The combination of young players like Covington/March-Lillard and Lee plus Joe Thomas will come into the decision making process.

On the majority of snaps there are only 2 LBs in the game. The SLB only plays between 15 and 30 percent of the snaps. In Dime there is only 1 LB.

In regards to TE I don't think S.Jones was clamoring for Witten to return. They didn't give him any guaranteed money and publically stated his snaps would be limited to about half or less of the total offensive snaps. Garrett did push to sign Witten but Garrett only has a small input into the draft now.

How they feel about Jarwin/Shultz will affect their thoughts on drafting a TE to some extent but Witten will have zero impact on their draft plans.

We can hope.

 

[Verdict]

I agree on Lee but Witten isn't gonna take many snaps away from the improving Schultz or Jarwin so I'm not concerned at TE.

Witten will be playing every down because of his leadership and intangibles. Never mind that he won't make a play all year long. We want his "leadership".

 

[conner01]

Both Lee and Witten can still produce on this team.
Neither one of them are stopping anyoned progress and are still very capable players.
And neither one will influence how the Cowboys draft.

I expect a TE or LB to be drafted if not both
LB’s tend to be part of ST and we only have two extra guys on the roster at LB

 

[GenoT]

You can get good RBs and LBs later on in the draft. If I were the Cowboys I would be looking to bolster both with mid round picks. (3rd to 4th). It's hard to get an impact tight end later on in the draft but this is supposed to be a fairly deep tight end draft. The Cowboys should be looking hard at that position too.

The Cowboys should not let Witten or Lee deter them from pursuing those positions on draft day.

Except that they didn’t...so we won’t.

Plus, their leadership shouldn’t be discounted.

 

[CT Dal Fan]

All of the players the Cowboys have added will not affect their draft plans. These additions only allow them to go into the draft minus a glaring need.

For example, signing Alfred Morris in 2016 didn't stop them from drafting Zeke.

Signing Allen Hurns last year didn't stop them from drafting Michael Gallup. And so on and so on.

 

[buybuydandavis]

I'm fine with Lee coming back as LB depth. He still adds value. Witten's salary is wasted money that could have been used elsewhere as far as I am concerned. The TE's last year brought as much to the field as Witten did in his final year. The only difference is that they actually had a slim chance of breaking loose and out running the defense for a 20-30 yard gain.

Lee's pay cut makes him a value contract, IMO.

Witten's probably still better than the guys we have now, and his contract came down since the last I looked. 4.25 before potential receptions bonus. Not horrible.

I think the Witten signing says they thought our current guys weren't quite starting quality yet. So we got a more solid vet than usual as a bridge player.

Then again, maybe they're just throwing him a bone. Gold Jacket Witt aint bad for the team, and keeping him catching balls while Gates chases him helps to keep Witt more in the conversation as greatest ever after Gonzalez.

My Witten Jersey is back on the active squad!

 

[beware_d-ware]

Regarding Lee: I don't think some fans realize this, but from the team's perspective, he is basically playing for free right now.

He had $3 million guaranteed left on his contract that would be paid to him if he retired, so whether he's suiting up or drinking pina coladas in Mexico, Lee was going to cost us $3M against the cap either way. And then not having Lee on the team means you need to bring in a new player to replace his roster spot. Even getting a JAG to fill in behind him is going to cost you about $600K. Looking it up, Chris Covington is playing on a rookie deal for about $600K, and JML is making a bit over $700K.

So $3 million guaranteed either way and $600K to replace him with a warm body - that's $3.6 mil cap spent if Lee retired. (and probably how the Cowboys and his agent came up with his pay cut figure). We're spending $3.5M to keep him, so it is all upside from Dallas's point of view. If he produces, he gets a pay bump through incentives. People have called Lee "money wasted" or "stuff the Patriots wouldn't do", etc, but he's really on about as team-friendly of a contract as you are going to get.

And as far as Witten: look at Antonio Gates from last year for a near identical situation. He was signed when the Chargers starting TE blew out his knee and left them with nothing, so the team agreed to a 1 year, $2.5 million deal (that number look familiar?). During the season, Gates played about two dozen snaps a game and finished the year with a 28/330/2 stat line. 5 catches and 80 of those yards came in one big game, so if you omit that as an outlier, your average Gates / projected Witt game is about 1.5 catches for 16 yards. Basically just a dumpoff or two a week.

So if the past is a guide, Witten's going to be a part time player at best. Jarwin and Schultz are still going to get plenty of snaps to JAG it up, and it absolutely does not prohibit us from drafting a TE in the 2nd if the right guy is there.

To sum this whole thing up, I think the Lee and Witt situations are much ado about nothing. They're part time players at best, they aren't costing us any real money, and we aren't counting on them for any serious role.

 

[Miller]

I just saw Witten again! First tine was pre Unretire at a kids place and I told him I appreciated his time with Boys. I got a “thanks brotha.” He then Unretired a week later. This time were at soccer fields and I said “ welcome back” and again I got “thanks brotha.” So expected regret and back in booth soon