The Las Vegas Raiders made some big moves during the offseason. The free agent signings are no doubt headlined by the additions of linebacker Cory Littleton and quarterback Marcus Mariota, but there were of course other moves being made as well to improve the roster.
One such move was the signing of veteran tight end Jason Witten. While the Raiders definitely needed help with linebackers and also could use more receivers, tight end was one position that appeared solid at the start of the offseason.
The Raiders helped rebirth the career of Darren Waller and also have a promising talent in second-year player Foster Moreau. Still, the club decided to give Witten a one-year, $4 million contract.
The main question that surrounds the Witten signing is, of course, his age. Witten has already retired one time in his career and will be turning 38 next month. For Raiders general manager Mike Mayock, bringing in Witten was a move to help improve the Raiders team culture as well as their play on the field, via Raiders.com:
Here’s the way I look at it. I think Jon and I looked at it the same way. If there’s a Mount Rushmore of NFL tight ends, he’s on it. I know he’s 37 years old and I know we have a pretty good tight end room, but when you talk about bringing in a guy like him, not only can he still play, he had over 60 catches, can block the backside c-gap, still a competitive football player, but on top of that, he brings this wealth of knowledge about how to be a professional. You guys got tired of hearing me talk about foundational players last year and the locker room and culture, that’s who this guy is. He’s the quintessential culture guy.
We plug him in our locker room and we have one more veteran that can look around the room and tell people what to do and what not to do. And even more importantly in the tight end room, you have a guy like Foster coming off an ACL, hopefully he’s going to be 100 percent day one, but if he’s not, we have a conventional Y that can play, plus we have a guy in that tight end room that I think is going to help the young guys, and I’m talking about all of them, Darren [Waller], Foster, Derek [Carrier]. Jon and I looked at this, we were jointed at the hip on this decision.
We just thought it was too good of an opportunity both for our locker room and for our tight ends room, and by the way the guy can still play a little bit.
Despite Witten’s age, there is no doubt that he is one of the best tight ends in football history. He has the second-most receiving yards of any tight end in NFL history and is in the top 50 for most games played at the position.
While Witten can certainly help in the locker room, it remains to be seen how much playing time will be available for him. Last season, Waller had the second-most receiving yards for a tight end in the NFL, while Moreau had the second-most receiving touchdowns of any Raiders player. Of course, Witten still managed to grab five touchdown catches along with 529 receiving yards for the Dallas Cowboys last season, proving he still has more to give.
Witten’s 16 professional years are easily the most of any other Raiders player. Hopefully, Mayock is right and Witten can help establish a hard-working Raiders culture through his years of experience.
Witten must see something special in the Raiders as well. His arrival in Las Vegas will mark just the second team he has ever played for in the NFL. The Raiders made waves with their impressive group of rookies from last year, likely a factor in Witten’s decision. With the NFL Draft quickly approaching, the Raiders are hoping to add even more pieces to an already solid squad.
