Upcoming Match-ups
Tmrw
27
Apr
1:00 PM
CLE
ORL
+2
-2
201.5
3:30 PM
OKC
NO
-1.5
+1.5
208
6:00 PM
BOS
MIA
-9
+9
202.5
8:30 PM
DEN
LAL
-3
+3
218
Sunday
28
Apr
1:00 PM
NY
PHI
+5
-5
208.5

Odds Heavily Against Jason Witten Returning to Dallas Cowboys

Ryan Metivier

by Ryan Metivier in NFL Football

Updated Apr 13, 2020 · 8:10 PM PDT

Jason Witten
Jason Witten (center), now a member of the Monday Night Football broadcast team, is reportedly not interested in coming out of retirement. Photo by Thomson200 (Wiki Commons).
  • Odds are against retired Cowboys’ TE Jason Witten re-joining the team for Week 1 of the 2019 regular season
  • Could Witten leave the broadcast booth?
  • Is there any value in betting Witten to come out of retirement?

With the Dallas Cowboys suddenly rejuvenated and now positioned as favorites to win the NFC East, reports from ESPN are that Head Coach Jason Garrett reached out to the now retired and current MNF broadcaster Jason Witten about coming out of the booth to join Dallas for a final playoff push.

Odds Jason Witten Is A Cowboy in Week 1 of 2019

Result Odds
Yes +1000
No -2500

Do The Cowboys Need Witten?

After WR Amari Cooper was added at the trade deadline, the Cowboys’ offense has been vastly improved.

2024-25 NFL MVP Odds Tracker - Mahomes Opens as the Favorite
Read More

Dallas is riding a five-game winning streak which has suddenly catapulted them into the playoff discussion. A discussion they were so far out of prior to the trade for Cooper when they were 3-4.

Adding Cooper has completely opened up the Cowboys’ offense and adding another reliable target in Witten can only help.

Over his 15-year career, all with Dallas, Witten amassed 12,448 receiving yards and 68 TDs. Last year he totaled 560 yards and five TDs.

Compare that to this year’s Cowboys TEs who have combined for 498 yards and one TD between the four of them so far.

Geoff Swaim had been the most productive with 242 yards and that lone TD. But his high-mark was only 25 yards in his last four games before suffering a broken a wrist.

Dallas has been so devoid of reliable pass catchers that RB Ezekiel Elliott leads the team in targets and catches. After Cole Beasley with 50 and Cooper with 40, the team’s next closest receiver only has 27 catches.

Witten joining the team for one last hurrah would have to be seen as a positive, especially should anything happen to Cooper from an injury standpoint.

Would Witten Leave The Booth?

Right now Witten seems to be committed to his new career path as a broadcaster. Now it’s a career many may wish he’d give up on as he’s received many negative reviews thus far, but he seems committed nonetheless.

Both Jason Garrett and Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones have also denied the team has reached out Witten. Jones commented that Witten has moved on in his career.

“That’s just not correct, period,” Jones said. “He misses competing but he’s got his head down and hands in the dirt, doing the job on Monday Night Football.”

Bet On More Witten…Somewhere, Just Not On The Field

Witten is 36 years old right now and would be 37 by the time next season starts.

If the lure of an almost certain playoff position and a run at the Super Bowl this season doesn’t do it for him now, it’s hard to see that changing next season.

Keep in the mind the bet is not “to play at any time next season” but rather Week 1.

That means he’d likely have to partake in OTAs, training camp and endure the rigors of an entire season. Stranger things have happened but I’ll have to side with the NO.

Author Image