Jason Witten signing more about Jerry Jones selling jerseys, merchandise—rather than Cowboys winning

NFL: Pro Bowl-NFC vs AFC

NFL fans were shocked when it was announced that tight end Jason Witten was coming out of retirement, and that he’d be returning to the Dallas Cowboys for one final season.

Witten, after all, has a pretty sweet gig working in ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” booth, and let’s not forget to mention that he’s 36 years of age.

Not only that, he counts for a $5 million cap hit this season, so it’s not like this is a team-friendly move. Assuming Witten plays all 25 snaps per game, he’ll make $12,500 per snap, which is pretty good work if you can get it. We’re pretty sure that with that type of money, you’d be able to use your BET LUCKY BONUS CODE and wager heavily on NFL games.

Tight end was one of the Cowboys’ biggest weaknesses last season, and we assumed the team would be going young there, in an effort to develop Geoff Swaim and Blake Jarwin, who flashed in limited action last season.

Clearly, this move was more about selling jerseys than winning, and is one of the reasons the Cowboys are among the most profitable sports franchises in the world every season. Team owner/GM Jerry Jones loves to win, but he values making money more, and this move is just another example of that. No other team would’ve made a move like this.

What about Tony?

We all know that Jason Witten wasn’t the best in the booth for television. I’m pretty sure at this point, nobody would disagree that Witten wasn’t cut out for play-by-play entertainment. Maybe coaching is in his future, which is good for him, but great for all of us who watch Monday Night Football.

However, I can’t help but think that if getting Witten back onto the field for the season to guide him into a coach’s role is the Cowboys plan, why not bring back Tony Romo? The former Cowboys quarterback is headed into year three of retirement at the age of 38. Not too young, but I’d say a season as a backup wouldn’t have been a bad idea if he agreed to it.

Even though Romo is a way better commentator than Witten is, he’s also much more knowledgable of the game. Why wouldn’t the Cowboys try to bring Romo back to lead him into a coaching role instead of Witten? I’m not saying Romo would come back and take Dak Prescott’s spot at QB1 (although he would probably give him a run for his money,) but I would think that Dallas would be logical enough to provide Romo with a shot.

Clearly, his knowledge for the game is stupendous, he’s familiar with the organization, and his game-planning could probably be much more useful than what Dallas has on staff now. Maybe Dallas is waiting to see what they are going to do with Jason Garrett. After all, he might be out after this season anyway. But why not get a head start, and bring Romo back into the organization to see what he’s got? Just some food for thought.

Arrow to top