Cowboys tight end Jason Witten retires, will join Monday Night Football

Jason Witten, who spent all 15 seasons of his NFL career with the Cowboys, is retiring to join ESPN’s Monday Night Football broadcast team as an analyst.

His decision comes a season after quarterback Tony Romo retired to take a job as the color analyst alongside Jim Nantz on CBS’s top NFL broadcast pairing. A relative novice, Romo received generally excellent marks in his first season.

Witten, an 11-time Pro Bowl selection at tight end, finishes his career as the fourth-leading receiver in NFL history (1,152 receptions), trailing only Jerry Rice, fellow tight end Tony Gonzalez, and Larry Fitzgerald.

ESPN, which in an odd twist broke the story about its own property while citing ESPN sources, reported that Witten, 36, wavered over the last few days about whether to play a 16th season.

ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported during the NFL Draft that Witten, the Cowboys’ all-time leader in games played, was a candidate for the job but owner Jerry Jones and coach Jason Garrett were trying to convince him to continue to play.

He replaces Jon Gruden, who left in January to accept a $100 million offer to become the head coach of the Oakland Raiders. Play-by-play voice Sean McDonough left Monday Night Football after two seasons in March to return to calling college football games in the fall.

Joe Tessitore, a Boston College graduate, is expected to be the choice as his successor and auditioned several candidates, including Panthers tight end Greg Olsen, Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner, and superb current studio analyst Louis Riddick. But he has not formally been named the play-by-play voice yet.

With Witten joining Monday Night Football, three of the four highest-profile analyst jobs in the NFL are held by former Cowboys — Romo, Witten, and Troy Aikman at Fox, with Cris Collinsworth holding the role at NBC.

The Cowboys, who haven’t won a Super Bowl since 1996, are the franchise that still draws the highest ratings in the league.