Veteran tight end Jason Witten is gearing up for what will be his 16th season with the Dallas Cowboys. Witten has been able to stand the test of time while holding off Father Time along the way. Although Witten will continue his career in the NFL, the Cowboys may be preparing for the future without him.
The Cowboys are a team that could conceivably contend for a Super Bowl for the foreseeable future with Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott leading the way. With that said, owner Jerry Jones and company will want to surround these two with as much talent as possible and bringing in Witten's eventual successor may be what they choose to do in the 2018 NFL Draft. The 35-year-old is fully aware of that fact, via ESPN's Todd Archer.
“They've got to find the best roster that they can do,” Witten said last week at the inaugural Jason Witten College Man of the Year Award dinner. “It would be foolish to get sensitive and worry about that. You've got to be able to compete and play at a high level. I welcome that and certainly I would help that guy in any way and I think the most important thing is let's make our football team better. I know Stephen and Jerry [Jones] and Will [McClay] and coach [Jason] Garrett, they're doing everything they can to put us in position in free agency and the draft to do that. Tight end position may be one of those spots.”
At this point, it remains to be seen if the Cowboys do decide to bring in another tight end early in the upcoming draft to pair with or split time with Witten on the field next season.
The team is without a doubt in win-now mode meaning they'll be highly motivated to do whatever it takes to get better now rather than later, but only time will tell if the tight end position is where they believe the can improve through the draft.
The Cowboys currently own the 19th overall pick in next month's draft. If the team parts ways with star wide receiver Dez Bryant, who is slated to make $12.5 million next season, Dallas could go with a wideout in the first round of the draft if not a tight end. Although the defense has been a concern for Dallas for the past few years, the Cowboys deciding to bolster the offense in the draft to put more weapons around Prescott wouldn't be all that surprising.
As for Witten's remaining time in Dallas, the veteran signed a four-year contract extension before this past season. This would have him playing until he's 39 which may be a stretch, but considering Witten's durability, he might be able to pull it off if the team isn't ready to make the switch to a younger option before then.
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