Cowboys Tight End Jason Witten retired. NBC 5’s Sports Director Newy Scruggs and Cowboys Insider Jacques Taylor talks about who will fill the void now that Witten is done.
If you think about it, you really do have to admire Jason Garrett's approach to the 2018 season.
He's entering the most important season of his career with a roster full of question marks, most of which he created.
That's bold.
And it takes some courage because there's zero guarantee the moves the Cowboys have made will work, and he's not getting a pass for having a young team or team in transition.
In the last two years, Tony Romo, Jason Witten and Dez Bryant have disappeared from the Cowboys' roster.
Romo is the franchise's all-time leading passer, Witten owns the record for receptions and no one has more receiving touchdowns than Bryant.
Romo and Witten were locker room leaders and Bryant brought a certain passion and spirit to the Cowboys.
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Now, it's time for players such as Dak Prescott, Sean Lee, Travis Frederick, Zack Martin and DeMarcus Lawrence to lead on and off the field.
"To the young bucks, you men energized me. These last four or five years have been special. I am proud of what we did together," Witten said at his retirement ceremony last week. "Now it's your turn to lead. I know you are ready.
"You have earned that right and respect. I challenge you take it to the next level and do it in a way that makes all of us proud."
Garrett was the catalyst for most of this change when he picked Prescott over Romo in 2016 and he was part of the decision-making process that led to Bryant's release this offseason.
It's not our job to have hope, faith and optimism that the Cowboys' offense will work without Bryant or anything close to a traditional Number one receiver.
The top five receivers on the roster have combined for one 1,000-yard season in 22 NFL seasons. They have just five combined seasons of more than 700 yards.
Nor is it our job to believe the Cowboys, when they tell us they can turn Tavon Austin, acquired on draft day for a sixth-round pick, into a more consistent big-play threat than he was with the Los Angeles Rams.
Austin has never had more than 509 yards receiving in a season, but he has scored 24 touchdowns in five seasons and nine occurred on runs or receptions of more than 20 yards.
The Cowboys tell us they believe the four tight ends currently on the roster can adequately replace Jason Witten this season, even though they have a combined total of nine NFL receptions.
After all, this was a good draft for tight ends but they didn't grab one until the fourth round when they selected Stanford's Dalton Schultz.
We'll see, but the Cowboys job is to sell hope to its fan base and the media, but that doesn't mean we're compelled to buy it.
Change is hard because it forces folks out of their comfort zone. But change is good because it can lead to growth and success at a much higher level.
We're about to find out if it has that impact on the Cowboys' coach.
Garrett, entering his eighth full season, has two playoff appearances and one playoff win. Most dudes would be fired by now, but he has survived.
The time, however, for post-season success has arrived.
Philadelphia's Super Bowl win with a second-year head coach, a backup quarterback and a myriad of injuries has removed any and every conceivable excuse for Garrett.
In two of the past four seasons, Garrett's teams have won 13 and 12 games but have virtually no playoff success to accompany the gaudy win totals.
In the other two years, his teams have won four and nine games, respectively.
He can blame 2015 on Romo's twice-broken collarbone and 2017 on Ezekiel Elliott's six-game suspension.
It's time for a deep playoff run. Anything less must be considered a failed season and a sign of regression.
Then Jerry and Stephen Jones must confront the fact that Garrett isn't the coach to return the Cowboys to their glory days.
He'll be worthy of the glory if it all works out, but he must be saddled with the blame if it doesn't.
No in-between exists.
