New York Giants: Possible Jason Witten, Jason Garrett reunion an awful sign
The New York Giants recently hired Jason Garrett as offensive coordinator and reportedly could now reunite him with Jason Witten. This is all a bad sign.
After the surprise retirement of Jason Witten prior to the 2018 season, then-Cowboys head coach and now-New York Giants offensive coordinator Jason Garrett and the team were left in a bind at tight end. After not truly addressing the need, their answer was to bring Witten out of the broadcast booth for the 2019 campaign.
The results for Witten in his return were a bit mixed. From a purely statistical standpoint, things were fine. Playing all 16 games, the veteran tight end caught 63 of his 83 targets for 529 yards, which was the fourth-best mark on the team, while catching four touchdowns as well. However, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that he looked older than ever when on the field.
Frankly, Witten’s performance mirrored the Cowboys’ in that it was completely uneven, a juicy, talented roster producing only an 8-8 record and failing to make the playoffs. Thus, Garrett was let go and then recently hired by the Giants. And with Witten no longer under contract, ESPN’s Chris Mortensen is now reporting that he too may be joining Big Blue to reunite with Garrett as he’s not decided to hang up his cleats just yet:
With no on-field coaching spot on Mike McCarthy's @dallascowboys staff, sources say Jason Witten hasn't ruled out playing in '20, and not to rule out reunion w new @Giants OC Jason Garrett. Of Witten's 16 games, his most productive game was vs. Giants.
— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) January 19, 2020
This should not be good news to the ears of Giants fans. With Pat Shurmur getting the boot this offseason, the (perhaps too optimistic) hope was that general manager Dave Gettleman would try to help take this young team anchored by young possible stars in Saquon Barkley, Daniel Jones, Evan Engram and more into the future.
Instead, the hiring of Garrett and the notion of bringing in Witten come across in the exact opposite manner. Sure, you could make the argument that the veteran would be a “security blanket” to help with the development of Jones. But he would also be a player continuing to take snaps away from Engram at tight end, who has flashed an immense amount of talent. That feels especially pertinent given Garrett’s familiarity with Witten and not Engram.
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The absolute worst thing that the Giants could do — most pressingly with a first-time head coach with limited experience in Joe Judge — would be to keep this team mired in the past. Garrett already feels like toeing that line dangerously closely. Reuniting the new offensive coordinator and Witten would be taking a leap across it.