Jason Witten will be returning to the field for the Dallas Cowboys next season, but if you were expecting him to have the same kind of role in the offense that he had in years past, you are probably expecting too much.

After all, Witten was out of football for a year turns 37 years old in May, so he likely can't do the types of things he used to on a regular basis.

Plus, the Cowboys have some young tight ends—particularly Blake Jarwin—whom they would like to develop.

“Well, Witt’s just been a great football player for us,” Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett said, per Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk. “He’s been an incredibly productive player for us throughout his career — one of the most productive tight ends in the history of the National Football League. He’s a complete tight end; he can play every down; he can really do everything you want a tight end to do. He can play on the ball; he can play off the ball. We’ve used him where he’s coming out of the backfield as a blocker, as a receiver. We’ve used him in the slot. We’ve used him outside. All of those things he’s been able to do throughout his career.”

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While Garrett praised Witten effusively, he added that the team will be cautious with how much it uses Witten in 2019:

“… Having said that, we have a couple of young tight ends who emerged last year and started playing better and better as the year went on,” said Garrett. “We feel like those guys will have a role for us. All of that stuff will be fleshed out as we get going, but suffice it to say we’re really excited he’s back. We’re excited about the development of those young guys and how that tight end group is going to be.”

A future Hall-of-Famer, Witten averaged 65.5 offensive snaps per game in 2017. Expect that number to dip this coming season.