Jason Witten’s name is suddenly back in the Cowboys conversation, and not just because he picked up his first college coaching win at Oklahoma.
The Dallas legend is now being floated as a possible future head coach in Dallas, with radio host Bob Sturm of 96.7 The Ticket saying Thursday that Witten is on an “extremely short list” of “potential saviors” for the franchise. Sturm’s comments came with the Cowboys sitting at 4-5 heading into their Week 10 game against the San Francisco 49ers.
That speculation lands at a tense moment for the team. Dallas dropped a home game to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 8, then answered with a tight win over the Indianapolis Colts in Week 9. Even with that bounce-back, the pressure around second-year head coach Brian Schottenheimer is still building, and Sturm suggested a change could come as soon as January, with Witten stepping in.
Witten’s ties to the organization run deep. The Cowboys took him in the third round of the 2003 NFL Draft, and the Tennessee native spent his first 16 seasons with “America’s Team.” During that run, he earned first team All-Pro honors in 2007 and 2010 and won the 2012 Walter Payton Man of the Year award.
His place in franchise history is already secure. Witten is the Cowboys’ all-time leader in receptions with 1,215 and receiving yards with 12,977. He also ranks second in touchdown catches with 72, just one behind Dez Bryant.
After finishing his NFL career with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2020, Witten closed out his playing days with 1,228 receptions, which puts him fourth on the league’s all-time list, and 13,046 receiving yards, good for 24th all time.
The bigger backdrop is Dallas’ long stretch of coaching turnover. The Cowboys are on their eighth coach since the 1995 season, when they last won the Super Bowl, and they still haven’t gotten past the NFC divisional playoff round in that span.
Now, with the team in danger of a third straight sub-.500 season, Jerry Jones could again be facing a decision that changes the direction of the franchise.
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Cowboys Need Answers Fast On Joey Porter Jr's Latest Setback
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Porter acknowledged the injury is serious and said he wants to get back on the field as soon as he can, but the timing is not ideal with San Francisco next on the schedule. He was held out of practice Wednesday, which leaves his status for the upcoming game in doubt and forces the Cowboys to keep looking for answers in a secondary that has already had enough problems. [Read more 🡒]