Know whom ESPN should pick to replace Jason Witten as an analyst on "Monday Night Football"?
No one.
Witten's decision to return to the Cowboys may be reason to re-examine whether overamped Joe Tessitore should come back for a second year on play-by-play on "MNF" or whether Booger McFarland is the best choice as an analyst on the prime-time NFL showcase.
But one thing is certain: The days of Howard Cosell, Frank Gifford and Dandy Don Meredith are long gone.
Witten's unretirement as a player after one singularly mediocre season as a prime-time analyst offers ESPN what should be a welcome opportunity to pare its Monday night announcing crew from three to two.
With a sideline reporter and occasional input from a rules expert, a third announcer would clutter any NFL telecast and especially ESPN's production overstuffed with extra graphics and gimmickry.
Last year's "MNF" only made this more evident. For much of the season, ESPN strapped co-analyst McFarland to a cart that bounced along the sidelines, apart from Tessitore and Witten.
Tessitore, meanwhile, too often sounded as though he was selling the games rather than calling them. Witten came across as though he had no TV experience (probably because he had no TV experience) and cut into time for McFarland, who was fairly sharp at times.
Not only would dropping the third announcer spare viewers unwanted competition for the microphone and allow the telecast to breathe a little, it would save ESPN millions of dollars.
But just because going with a two-person announcing team makes all kinds of sense doesn't mean that's what ESPN will do.
Many people who would be excellent, such as Fox's Charles Davis, are unlikely to be sprung from their current deals to jump to ESPN. Others with potential are as unproven as Witten, or close to it.
But with that in mind, here are some possibilities, bearing in mind I once thought Tony Kornheiser would be a good pick:
