Witten wants to play until he's 40

Captain-Crash

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heck cut everybody on this team and coaches too.. I have no "emotional" attachment to any of them... sheesh.... if it makes us better do it..

So if we do cut him who's this young fast, super handed good blocker do we have who's taking his place..

oh yeah "the legend of Rico" the preseason super star..
 

DallasEast

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Witten's desire is the same as any other athlete wanting to play for as long as they possibly can. His feelings on the matter do not ultimately dictate what the front office may or may not do concerning roster acquisitions, etc. For this reason, anyone concerned about how long Witten will play for Dallas should shine their spotlight on Jones and Co. and not on Witten.
 

coult44

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Witten can catch, that's it. One of the best ever to play, but it's over.
 

KingintheNorth

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Wait, he's not already 40?


That's a sub-40-year-old man out there plodding for 3 yard gains? Seriously?
 

BourbonBalz

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No TE has been a first ballot yet. He doesn't have the catches Gonzales has or the TDs of Gates.

As I said, he has the second most receptions ever for a TE. He's a better blocker than either Gonzales or Gates. He's a total package TE. He's got the 4th most receptions of any player at any position. He's a guaranteed first ballot HOFer. I'll bet you $1,000.00 on it right now.
 

OmerV

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Nothing in the world wrong with Witten continuing to play as long as the Cowboys don't plan on him being the top TE the next 4 years. He would definitely be a nice guy to have, but the elite status is several years behind him.
 

buybuydandavis

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plymkr

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I really don’t get the fascination for drafting a TE. Besides the fact that no rookie TE would subplant Witten as the starter, Dallas has a variety of good TEs already. Haven’t we proven through a plethora of drafted TEs during Wittens reign, that drafting a TE is a wasted pick over and over again.

Witten- all around well rounded vet that ranked 7th of all TEs last year. Beating the likes of Jimmy Graham, Kyle Rudolph, Jared Cook, B Watson, etc.. yeah, he’s lost a step but he still has sure hands, finds ways to get open, and blocks better than most TEs in the league. Are we just wanting to replace him bc he’s “old”?
Hanna- is an anomaly, but really hasn’t been giving a real shot at the starter role. Sounds a lot like the rest of the TEs that we’ve drafted and gone on to have long careers elsewhere. But he plays a ton of ST and blocks well for a ‘run dominant’ team.
Swaim- has looked good in the very limited playing time he has.. here again, when has he had a chance to prove he could be better? We don’t have a clue what type of player he could be. So let’s just go draft another one I guess. SMH. Reoccurring theme here.
Jarwin- apparently the coaches thought enough of him to stash him on the practice squad, then call he up late in the season. A big young TE to develop into a possible starter down the road. Again.. talented player, but when will we see these talents? But let’s go draft another one:/
Gathers- the enigma that stunned fans how he was able to stretch the field last preseason before he got his bell rung. Major upside and I personally believe could steal some snaps from Witten this year. But hey, let’s waste another draft pick

Now if someone wants to argue that Witten needs to share some snaps with some of the other talented TEs on our roster.. well, I’m with ya. But Witten isn’t a horrible TE by know means, even if he’s in his twilight years.
Very good post, I agree 100%
 

plymkr

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Lol.. you mean the game where everyone on the team sucked marbles? The same game where Witten went 10-97yd-1td? I don’t need to see one game. I watch all the games and have seen Witten seal the edge plenty of times.. try again. I don’t have to defend how good Witten is. My main point is.. Dallas has young talent at TE. I agree that Witten needs to have reduced snaps so we can see what we truely have before we blindly start drafting players that may never hit the field. Besides the fact that the TE position is the least of Dallas’s worries
I think we need to bring back LaFleur, Bjornson and some of the other tight ends between Novacek and Witten and then reassess Witten.
 

Johnny23

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6 for the win. Dez 73, Witten 68.

Career TDs are actually one of the weak spots in Witten's resume. Currently tied for 46th. But a couple of seasons at 6 puts him at 27. Another at 6 gets him top 15.

Currently 21st in receiving yards.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/leaders/rec_td_career.htm
For Tight Ends 68 TDs for a career is great.
It's more than Hall of Famers. Jimmy Graham has 69, Gronk has 76, and Gates has 114 who has the most all-time. There's a sizable gap between Gates,Gonzalez(111), and Gronk and everyone else.
 

atlantacowboy

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Witten's desire is the same as any other athlete wanting to play for as long as they possibly can. His feelings on the matter do not ultimately dictate what the front office may or may not do concerning roster acquisitions, etc. For this reason, anyone concerned about how long Witten will play for Dallas should shine their spotlight on Jones and Co. and not on Witten.

That and they missed on Gavin Escobar who was supposed to replace him eventually.
Complete BS. So Evan Engram gets drafted last year for the Giants and as a rookie has 64 catches for 722 yards and 6 TDs with an 11.3 average per reception and doing all of this on a team with a broken down QB, awful Oline and #1 and #2 receivers going down early in the season.....but you don't think a guy like that is good enough to start over Witten?

I think everyone can agree that now is the time to get somebody in who can take Witten's job. I'm not sure this draft has such a caliber of TE, but IF we had someone like Evan Ingram on the roster, Witten might be retired. What keeps him in the starting lineup is the simple fact that we don't have anyone on the current roster who can out hustle him for the starting job. Your opinion is too extreme. He is not as bad as you claim. But yes, its time and he's not what he once was......
 

atlantacowboy

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For Tight Ends 68 TDs for a career is great.
It's more than Hall of Famers. Jimmy Graham has 69, Gronk has 76, and Gates has 114 who has the most all-time. There's a sizable gap between Gates,Gonzalez(111), and Gronk and everyone else.

Plus, Witten has always been an underneath guy who can get you the tough yards and keep the chains moving. He was never an athletic freak like Gates and Gonzalez getting down field. Sure he's slower than he used to be, but speed was never his game. Apparently, thats news to a lot folks on here. You don't really read any criticism of Witten or debasement like I see on this board. Its revolting and absurd.
 

Wizarus

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Honestly he should have left when Romo did, but right now there are just too many bigger holes to fill.
 

Johnny23

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Plus, Witten has always been an underneath guy who can get you the tough yards and keep the chains moving. He was never an athletic freak like Gates and Gonzalez getting down field. Sure he's slower than he used to be, but speed was never his game. Apparently, thats news to a lot folks on here. You don't really read any criticism of Witten or debasement like I see on this board. Its revolting and absurd.
Agreed. It's mostly because of the shiny new toy syndrome where everyone wants the neg fangled toy because someone else has it.
 
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