The Dallas Cowboys announced earlier this week that Jason Witten has left his position at ESPN to come out of retirement and play tight end again in 2019. The surprising news led outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware to tease that he may come out of retirement as well.
Witten didn’t exactly have a great one-year tenure at ESPN. The former Monday Night Football broadcaster was often mocked on Twitter during games for his uninspiring commentating (he’s certainly no Tony Romo).
ESPN will now have to find a replacement for Witten, or simply go with two commentators instead of three like they did last season. The favorite to replace Witten, according to oddsmakers, is Peyton Manning.
Manning joining the broadcast booth would make sense for several reasons. The former NFL quarterback has a witty, entertaining personality that could be ESPN’s answer to Romo’s brilliant commentating with CBS.
Last year, ESPN and FOX both offered Manning up to $10 million per season to call primetime games but the five-time NFL MVP turned them down. Manning did host a weekly show called “Details” on ESPN+ in 2019, though, a sign that he’s not afraid to break down NFL games on camera.
Manning may be waiting until his brother, Eli, retires before he starts calling NFL games. While it may not happen this year, it seems inevitable that Manning will eventually find his way into the broadcast booth. A two-time Super Bowl champion, the 42-year-old Manning seems to be a perfect fit to call primetime NFL games.
