Witten has screwed the Cowboys twice now

[erod]

For crying out loud.

He's just a tight end.

Most teams barely have one.

Who is the Rams' tight end? The Saints? They both made it to the conference finals.

Geez.

 

[HanD]

Last year, he retired unexpectedly, leaving the Cowboys to go into the offseason with subpar TE talent. This year, he throws a monkey wrench in the plans again, at the last minute, and puts the franchise in an odd position.

He's going to leech snaps from any TE they may draft, and hinder the development of the guys already on the roster. He's definitely taken them out of the free agency mix for TEs.

this was my first thoughts and i almost posted it yesterday. if we don't draft a TE this year because of witten i'm going to be pissed. this is a deep TE draft and we need to take advantage somewhere in rounds 2-4 depending on who is there. if witten is the reason we don't, that is unacceptable and he will have screwed us. at the same time i don't want us carrying 4 TEs. witten, schultz and jarwin are locks. bye to the rico project and thanks for the service swaim. we need to draft a TE!

 

[Hadenough]

Last year, he retired unexpectedly, leaving the Cowboys to go into the offseason with subpar TE talent. This year, he throws a monkey wrench in the plans again, at the last minute, and puts the franchise in an odd position.

He's going to leech snaps from any TE they may draft, and hinder the development of the guys already on the roster. He's definitely taken them out of the free agency mix for TEs.

After you get through thinking about the feel good story this sums things up.

 

[glimmerman]

I agree, his numbers were at career lows in 2017, does anyone really expect them to improve two years later?

You have to throw him the ball tonget the yards. The guy is so slow but yet is always open. If Dak uses him then maybe a 4 or 5 yard pass is better than him taking a sack on second down.

 

[Silver Surfer]

You have to throw him the ball tonget the yards. The guy is so slow but yet is always open. If Dak uses him then maybe a 4 or 5 yard pass is better than him taking a sack on second down.

I call him "The Snail": He's slow and sticky.

 

[Stash]

You have to throw him the ball tonget the yards. The guy is so slow but yet is always open.

No. If he were "Always open", he wouldn't be setting career lows. Time waits for no one.

If Dak uses him then maybe a 4 or 5 yard pass is better than him taking a sack on second down.

Or he might get 5 yards on 3rd and 7?

 

[Hadenough]

For crying out loud.

He's just a tight end.

Most teams barely have one.

Who is the Rams' tight end? The Saints? They both made it to the conference finals.

Geez.

Whoa! I thought the Cowboys wanted to open up the offense. How easily we forget how defenses were taking everyone else away and letting the Cowboys have the underneath throws to Witten on 3rd and 7 and Witten catches a 3 yard pass and gets 5 total yards. The 2 yards come from falling forward.
This wont be a big deal as long as Dak doesnt make Witten his security blanket!

 

[IrishAnto]

This whole episode smacks of getting back together with an old girlfriend.

Rarely a good idea!

 

[glimmerman]

No. If he were "Always open", he wouldn't be setting career lows. Time waits for no one.



Or he might get 5 yards on 3rd and 7?

How is this Wittens fault. If he Dak holds the ball and Wittens working his way back to him. This is a team effort. To blame just the TE isn’t right.

 

[Doomsday101]

this was my first thoughts and i almost posted it yesterday. if we don't draft a TE this year because of witten i'm going to be pissed. this is a deep TE draft and we need to take advantage somewhere in rounds 2-4 depending on who is there. if witten is the reason we don't, that is unacceptable and he will have screwed us. at the same time i don't want us carrying 4 TEs. witten, schultz and jarwin are locks. bye to the rico project and thanks for the service swaim. we need to draft a TE!

If TE is the best player on the board at our pick, then great take him but given issues at safety and on the defensive DT and DE I would consider those a high priority as well.

 

[Typhus]

Antonio Gates seems to have been worthy for decades.

 

[CF74]

I won’t scream bloody murder unless he magically forgot how to catch the football. Towards the end of his career he always had great hands for making the catch. Now running after the catch is non-existent...

 

[HanD]

If TE is the best player on the board at our pick, then great take him but given issues at safety and on the defensive DT and DE I would consider those a high priority as well.

i agree....but i tend to look more at the draft in tiers. there should be a sweet spot for each position based on the talent level. for example, i have a TE rated 84 on my board. the next best TE is the next tier down. i have a DT rated 86 but there are several more rated in the 80s. i'd go TE.

i don't think we walk into the draft without taking care of at least 1 of those positions of need.

 

[glimmerman]

He had more receptions in 2017 than all our TE last year.

 

[lukin2006]

Jason Witten has not screwed the cowboys. The FO and their inability to be prepared to have competent replacements in place just in case are what has been hurting this team since Jimmy left. It started with Jones thinking Aikman could and would be able to continue for a long time, even though he had a history of severe concussions.

Witten gave this team a great 15 years, easily one of the greatest TE's of all-time, will be in the ROH and HOF some day.

I fully welcome him back, the current stable of TE's are not that good and consistent. He only gets 25% of the snaps, but by game 5 he'll be getting 50%...Swain will be injured and Jarwin will disappear for games at a time, and I have no faith in Jones and company drafting a solid replacement.

The best thing that can happen next season is for a losing season so JG can be escorted out of the building.

 

[CouchCoach]

Witten didn't do anything to the team, he did something for himself when a job with another future opened up and the window was only open for a short period of time. Didn't work out.

And from what I've read, they've pretty much been on him to come back since he left. They want him, he's not forcing them to take him.

Like a lot of you, I have doubts about how well he can play but I don't fault him for wanting to come back home where he is welcome. On the human level, I do not know what it was like for him to do that Cowboys game up there in that booth and not be on the field after that many years.

I do know one thing, Witten is better thought of by fans of other teams than he is by some of our own.

 

[Doomsday101]

i agree....but i tend to look more at the draft in tiers. there should be a sweet spot for each position based on the talent level. for example, i have a TE rated 84 on my board. the next best TE is the next tier down. i have a DT rated 86 but there are several more rated in the 80s. i'd go TE.

i don't think we walk into the draft without taking care of at least 1 of those positions of need.

We have no clue as to who will be on the board when we pick, every year players slide and fall from where people expected them to go, we see other rise on draft day and selected well before many felt they should so bottom line we don't know who is on the board at any give time. I'm not opposed to getting a TE nor am I opposed to taking any other position were their are also needs. Heading into this off season pending DLaw contract I would have said DE is a position of strength for this team and now this week it became a position of need. DT, Woods did a great job but after that we are thin along that DL and need help. So again I'm more interested in getting top players if that is TE great but I'm not putting everything on Dallas getting a TE in this draft or not.

 

[conner01]

Last year, he retired unexpectedly, leaving the Cowboys to go into the offseason with subpar TE talent. This year, he throws a monkey wrench in the plans again, at the last minute, and puts the franchise in an odd position.

He's going to leech snaps from any TE they may draft, and hinder the development of the guys already on the roster. He's definitely taken them out of the free agency mix for TEs.

So wouldn’t retiring last year have given the young guys more reps and sped up their development

 

[Carson]

Come on now. 25 or less snaps a game

It’s not like he’s starting over Cooper or Gallup

 

[Doomsday101]

Witten didn't do anything to the team, he did something for himself when a job with another future opened up and the window was only open for a short period of time. Didn't work out.

And from what I've read, they've pretty much been on him to come back since he left. They want him, he's not forcing them to take him.

Like a lot of you, I have doubts about how well he can play but I don't fault him for wanting to come back home where he is welcome. On the human level, I do not know what it was like for him to do that Cowboys game up there in that booth and not be on the field after that many years.

I do know one thing, Witten is better thought of by fans of other teams than he is by some of our own.

Hell if anything a year without the bumps and bruises may help him. As I said before I don't think speed has ever been a staple of Witten, precise routs and great hands, the ability to block and seal off the edge are things I don't think Jason forgot how to do in 1 year. Given he has made this choice now, he has ample time to get himself ready and few will ever out work Witten.