Jason Witten will be back with the Cowboys in 2018, but another one of the team’s tight ends is retiring.
The Cowboys confirmed that they are placing James Hanna on the reserve/retired list shortly after Todd Archer of ESPN reported that Hanna, who dealt with knee problems for the last two years, was walking away from the game.
“The dream was to play for the Cowboys,” Hanna said. “I don’t know how many people actually do what they say they’re going to do as like a 13-year-old, but I consider myself to be extremely lucky in that sense. Also the college I went to [Oklahoma], I feel like I met my goals. It would’ve been nice to have more stats and obviously I could’ve done more things, but I’m proud of what I accomplished.”
Hanna joined the Cowboys as a sixth-round pick in 2012 and played in 78 games for the team. He missed the entire 2016 season before returning to play every game last season and ends his career with 37 catches for 374 yards and a touchdown.
Witten is now joined by Geoff Swaim, Rico Gathers and Blake Jarwin on the depth chart at tight end.