Jason Witten has accomplished everything there is to accomplish in his NFL career, and there's still more coming. The Dallas Cowboys tight end is in the midst of an assault on the franchise record book and is going to break yet another mark this weekend. So only one question remains: is he the greatest player in Dallas Cowboys history? The answer isn't a unanimous 'yes' yet, but he is slowly building a case to be known as the greatest to ever suit up for the legendary franchise.
Witten catching another record
During the Week 1 opener against the New York Giants, Witten put one record in his bag.
With just one catch, the tight end surpassed wide receiver Michael Irvin as one of the best receivers in Cowboys history. Once the game came to a conclusion, he officially had 11,947 receiving yards. He joined Antonio Gates (Los Angeles Chargers), Tony Gonzalez (Kansas City Chiefs), and Ozzie Newsome (Cleveland Browns) as the only tight ends to lead their teams in career receiving yards.
He has more Cowboys history in his sights this weekend, though. All he has to do is suit up; when he does so, he'll pass Ed "Too Tall" Jones for most games in franchise history. Jones played in 224 games - Witten is about to hit 225. That record is a testament to his health more than anything, but the Cowboys wouldn't have kept him around for that long if he wasn't a great player.
Is it enough for him to be considered the best to ever play for the city, though?
Sizing up the Cowboys greats
Witten has a lot of competition for the title, especially from 1990s offensive players. Troy Aikman is one of the game's elite quarterbacks. Emmitt Smith is the NFL's leading rusher of all-time. Irvin is obviously in a class of his own.
Throw out names like Bob Lilly, Roger Staubach, and even Tony Romo, and the Cowboys conversation gets crowded very quickly.
There's a major component lacking in Witten's resume, though. In his illustrious career, he has never won a Super Bowl. Never even come close, really. He has made 10 Pro Bowls, but has just one postseason touchdown - it came last year in a loss.
Football is a team sport and most positions (outside of quarterback) don't have outsized impacts on their teams' individual performances - especially tight ends.
Fair or not, the lack of any real postseason success will always hold Witten back in his quest to become the best player the Dallas Cowboys have ever produced. He's running out of time to fix that issue.
