I think Emmitt was trying to pad his career rushing yardage total. Those extra yards may be what keeps Peterson from trying to catch him.
With 2 more starting seasons, Witten could pass Gonzalez for career receptions and get in the low teens for career receiving yards. I think we should move on from Witten, but I'm not sure how much he has left. He was at least an average starter for the first half of the season, very below average the second half.
If he could continue to play like he did in the first half, he could easily have a couple of good years left.
He's a bad fit here. He gets too much deference even when he's not producing. We would use him as a goto player in critical moments, and he's not that guy anymore. He don't have to go home but he can't stay here.
Emmitt might have been, but I feel like he was just another player who wasn't ready to call it quits. Tony Dorsett did the same thing, going to Denver for a season when he had little left in the tank.
I don't think Witten is the type to be eyeing career numbers. I think he legitimately wants to keep playing, and I can't really blame him for that. Even here, I think he would be liable to be a better No. 2/blocking tight end than other players we could put out there (unless Schultz has been held back by the previous staff). He's clearly not a No. 1 anymore except for a team that doesn't have a good, young starter ... and he shouldn't even just be given the No. 2 role.
Old vets have a place, but that place shouldn't be an automatic spot ahead of younger players. Not saying that Jarwin or Schultz deserved to be ahead of him — I don't think we have enough evidence to determine that — just that I don't think they were really given a shot at beating him out.
Of course, Witten still ended up eighth among tight ends in receptions this year, so maybe his starting spot was more deserved than fans feel. He only averaged 8.4 yards per reception so that's too low, but it's possible that him being that outlet for Dak and a better blocker than our other options is part of the reason our sacks allowed decreased dramatically last year.