Jason Witten Retires from Cowboys, Reportedly Joins ESPN's Monday Night Football

Longtime Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten announced his retirement from football on Thursday.  ESPN's Todd Archer reported he will join ESPN as an analyst on Monday Night Football.

ESPN's Chris Mortensen first reported last week that Witten was strongly considering ending his playing career in favor of moving to the announce booth.

Archer reported that Witten "wrestled" with the decision over the past week and "leaned heavily" on Jones throughout the process. He also wrote that Witten had an offer from another network that would have allowed him to play in 2018 before making the move to broadcasting in 2019.

Former Cowboys teammate Dez Bryant took to Instagram to pay tribute to the Cowboys legend: 

Witten is following in the footsteps of friend and former teammate Tony Romo, who retired last offseason to join CBS as an NFL analyst.

Witten spent 15 seasons with the Cowboys, which is tied with Ed "Too Tall" Jones, Bill Bates and Mark Tuinei for the most in team history. He ranks first in franchise history with 12,448 receiving yards and third with 68 receiving touchdowns.

Witten is also fourth on the NFL's all-time receptions list with 1,152—behind only Hall of Famer Jerry Rice, as well as future Hall of Famers Tony Gonzalez and Larry Fitzgerald. The 11-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro First-Team selection is among the most productive tight ends of all time and is likely to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

With ESPN, Witten will take over for Jon Gruden, who left announcing to become head coach of the Oakland Raiders.

Witten's retirement leaves Dallas with a major hole at tight end. Although his production had dropped a bit in recent years, he was still a key part of the offense in 2017 with 63 receptions for 560 yards and five touchdowns.

With Witten gone, Dallas' tight end depth chart currently features Geoff Swaim, Rico Gathers, Blake Jarwin and rookie fourth-round pick Dalton Schultz.

Among them, Jarwin has appeared in one NFL game, and Swaim has appeared in 28. Swaim is the only Cowboys tight end to have produced a stat line during his career (nine catches for 94 yards).