Still under contract: Jason Witten, Gavin Escobar, Geoff Swaim
Outlook: For the thirteenth season in a row, 2015 was the Jason Witten show at tight end. In this pass-happy era of NFL football, Witten has been the league’s best all-around tight end.
He’s not the most fearsome deep threat, but he catches everything thrown to him (according to Pro Football Focus, Witten had zero dropped passes on 100 targets last year) and is a highly effective blocker, both as an in-line TE and from the backfield, as an H-back. He is a future Hall-of-Famer and the poster child for all that is good about the Parcells-Garrett era Cowboys.
In a 2015 season played almost exclusively without Tony Romo and Dez Bryant in the lineup, The Senator posed the offense’s top threat and, as a result, was the recipient of more double teams and bracket coverage than usual.
In spite of this, he caught 77 passes and, playing with a gallery of backup QBs, none of whom demonstrated an penchant for throwing deep, still averaged 9.3 yards per catch. It’s no surprise that two of Witten’s three scoring grabs came in week one, with Romo under center.
The Cowboys have had great difficulty developing a productive counterpart to Witten, despite spending a good deal of draft capital on the likes of Anthony Fasano, Martellus Bennett and, most recently, Gavin Escobar. Before his season was cut short by a torn Achilles against the Jets, Escobar caught only eight passes for 64 yards and a lone touchdown. Like the candidates before him, Escobar’s development has been slowed by the fact that the super-professional, ultra-competitive Witten takes every practice snap he possibly can.
Escobar’s immediate future is cloudy. He is currently in the initial stages of rehab from his Achilles surgery, one that provides an uncertain timetable. It’s an open question if and when Escobar will be able to play in 2016; he’ll almost certainly miss training camp and open the season on the PUP list.
That means Swaim, who totaled one catch for no yards in 2015, will be asked to elevate his game. He’s largely a blocker, although he flashed some pass-catching ability last year in camp.
Whose contracts have expired: James Hanna
Potential Keepers: After the draft last year, it was widely thought that Swaim was acquired to be Hanna’s replacement and, as a consequence, Dallas would let Hanna walk when his contract expired at season’s end.
However, if the Cowboys’ medical staff concludes that Escobar will miss all or most of the coming campaign, the likelihood that Hanna will be brought back increases, especially since the Cowboys know what they’ll get from him: a solid professional who is the team’s best blocking TE.
Potential free agent additions: As it’s doubtful that the Cowboys will pay big free agent money for a tight end, a player in Hanna’s price range makes the most sense. However, if the front office figures that Swaim can replace Hanna’s blocking and therefore need to secure a receiving tight end in the Escobar mold, they could target a guy like the Colts’ Dwayne Allen or the Falcons’ Tony Moeaki. Each is a capable receiver who could provide the 10-15 receptions the back-up receiving tight end has tallied in recent years.
Positional outlook in the draft: The Cowboys offense has been built to accommodate an all-around tight end who can block as well as catch. Because of the proliferation of spread offenses in the collegiate ranks, there are precious few of these rare beasts available.
One to keep your eye on is Ohio State’s Nick Vannett; at 260 pounds, he’s a strong blocker yet he boasts the athleticism to get up the seam. He can be had on the draft’s second day (rounds two and three). Later in the draft, they might target East Carolina’s Bryce Williams, a rangy pass-catcher in the Escobar mold.
Bottom Line: While other positions on the offensive side of the ball have been receiving more coverage, tight end might well be the most unsettled, thanks to Hanna’s contact status, Escobar’s injury, and Swaim’s lack of experience.
Add to this Dallas’ fondness for two-tight end personnel groupings, and we can see that the Cowboys have some work to do to fill out the depth chart with guys capable of making plays at the NFL level.
There’s another question, however. Witten has been an iron man, missing only one game in his storied career (thanks to a broken jaw suffered in his rookie year) and setting the all-time Cowboys record with 203 consecutive games played. With that in mind, it sounds blasphemous to ask: when should the team begin the search for his replacement?
Check out Shawn on Twitter @rabblerousr for more on the Cowboys.
