Tight end Jason Witten has informed Dallas Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones and head coach Jason Garrett that he is retiring – this according to ESPN’s Todd Archer.

Archer cites multiple sources for the news, which comes right on deadline: on Sunday, ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported that Witten would decide by Wednesday whether to retire or keep playing.

What’s next for Witten?

According to the Dallas Morning News, ESPN offered Witten a multi-year offer that will pay him $4-4.5 million annually; he was slated to make just over $1 million in base salary in 2018, and Jones had tried to talk him into continuing his playing career.

A second television network also reportedly made a late pitch to Witten.

It wasn’t easy

Despite the pay disparity, the chance to try his hand at something new and the opportunity to preserve his health by ending his playing career, Archer writes that “Witten struggled with the decision for the last week.”

A third-round pick out of Tennessee in 2003, Witten was remarkably dependable and reliable during his career: he missed just one of a possible 240 regular-season games, in his rookie year.

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Witten’s 1,152 career catches are second-most all-time for a tight end, behind only Tony Gonzalez, and fourth-most in NFL history, behind Jerry Rice, Gonzalez and Larry Fitzgerald.

He is the Cowboys’ all-time leader in receiving yards, with 12,448.

He caught at least one pass in every game from Week 10 of the 2008 season to Week 13 of 2016, a span of 130 games.

Witten is an 11-time Pro Bowler and two-time first-team All-Pro. He was also the 2012 NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year.

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