Jason Witten Comments on Tony Romo's Future in the NFL

Tony Romo has made things easy on the Dallas Cowboys by accepting Dak Prescott as the starting quarterback moving forward, though tight end Jason Witten doesn't expect the 36-year-old to hang up his cleats in the near future. 

Per Drew Davison of the Star-Telegram, Witten didn't even want to discuss the topic of Romo's NFL future when reporters brought it up:

"

C’mon guys. I think he talked yesterday to you guys. I mean, he embodies everything you want. I mean, that’s a good conversation. He said it. Let’s move forward with the football team.

I don’t think that’s entered my mind and it hasn’t entered anybody’s mind. Really, I think more than anything else, as teammates and friends, you look at it from the standpoint of it’s not easy to get up and have that conversation. To do it in such a delicate way like he did, you’re proud of him. Other than that, for all of us, we’ve just got to move forward.

"

On Tuesday, Romo read a statement that explained why he was willingly stepping aside to serve as the Cowboys' backup quarterback now that his back is fully healed:

Even though it was apparent the difficulty Romo had accepting the situation, he did what was in the best interest of the team. 

"I don’t think he’s planning on retiring anytime soon," Witten said, per Davison. "I wouldn’t bet against him."

Nothing in Romo's statement indicated he is even thinking of retirement. His line about the ecstasy of competition and winning burning more now than ever is a hint he could be planning on playing again in 2017, whether as a member of the Cowboys or another team.  

There doesn't seem to be a long shelf life for Romo at this stage of his career given his age and injury history, including being limited to just four games since the start of last season, but finding a situation that will give him a chance to succeed could be high atop his wish list in 2017.