What Happened To That 'Quick' Decision From Cowboys TE Witten?

Time Takes Its Toll. And Time Takes Its Time. What Happened To That 'Quick' Decision From Cowboys Tight End Jason Witten?

FRISCO - The problem with 11-time Pro Bowl tight end Jason Witten's Week 17 plan to make a "quick decision'' about his football future has become as clear as the decision itself is muddy.

"I just want to exhaust every opportunity to play and obviously try to play in a game like this - the Super Bowl," Witten said last week, speaking from Miami during the Big Game's Media Week.

The seeking of "every opportunity'' is obviously the result of his hoped-for opportunities not being as readily available at "Gold-Jacket Witt'' figures they would be. That's no indictment on Witten the man. But it is part of the reality of being a football player who is about to turn 38 without a contract.

"I was proud of the way I played," Witten said of his work for the Dallas Cowboys in 2019, when he returned from a season away in broadcasting to regain his starting spot over Blake Jarwin. "Every time an older player gets toward the end of their career, they're always talking about, 'I feel better now than I did 10 years ago.'

"That's not necessarily the case for me, but I still feel good. I think that year off helped me."

Maybe so, but what new Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy must decide - or, maybe already has - is how much Witten can help McCarthy's Cowboys. And that's an important aspect of this, for Witten or any other legendary player nearing the end; These are no longer "Witten's Cowboys.'' They cannot be.

Witten himself recognized that early last summer when he told me he wished for the younger generation to grab the leadership baton. (I still think the Cowboys captaincy choices were rigged to nudge the responsibility away from Witten - by his generous choice.)

Not even the Jones family, which adores Witten, is jumping in front of a microphone to announce a wish for him to return as a player. And as a coach? McCarthy chose a mostly new coaching staff, and he didn't choose Witten.

Speaking of coaching ...

"I think, post-career, I could see myself coaching for sure,'' Witten said, while at the same time not ready to accept that this already might be "post-career'' time.

I don't think Jerry Jones wishes to watch Witten - "One of the five best people I've met in the NFL,'' the owner loves to say - laboring away as the backup tight end in Tampa or Detroit. Or, God forbid, as part of the DFW migration to the hated Giants.

"I think the biggest thing is having those open conversations with (the Joneses and Mike (McCarthy), and see where this thing takes us here in the next couple months."

So "quickly after Week 17'' has become "the next couple of months.'' Jason Witten deserves only the best ... But suddenly he's not unilaterally in charge of what that is.