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Among the things to look for in the upcoming NFL draft, many Cowboys fans are hoping the team lands an heir to tight end Jason Witten.
Gold Jacket Witt is entering his 16th season, and for all we know the Cowboys could have a future answer in Rico Gathers. Whatever you believe, the need at tight end has increased all the more as ESPN’s Todd Archer reports the Cowboys will place James Hanna on the reserve/retired list.
The Cowboys will place James Hanna on the reserve/retired list as the tight end could not get over a serious knee condition that troubled him for most of the last two seasons, according to sources. Hanna was not involved in the early part of the team’s... https://t.co/45BAZ2avSC
— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) April 20, 2018
The knee injury in question seems to be one that Hanna suffered back in July of 2016. It was actually a bone bruise and once news of it spread, people immediately thought back to the Cowboys career of Anthony Spencer. It seems Hanna suffered a similar fate. Archer back then:
Cowboys TE James Hanna has a bone bruise in his knee. He needs a little time but should be OK.
— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) July 31, 2016
Dallas drafted Hanna in the sixth round of 2012. He never threatened Jason Witten himself, in fact he caught his first touchdown just last season. It was his only score in the NFL.
James Hanna caught one touchdown throughout his Cowboys career. It came on October 1st last season against the Los Angeles Rams. pic.twitter.com/K7sTInK8nK
— RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) April 20, 2018
Speaking of last season, it was in October that the Cowboys promoted tight end Blake Jarwin to the 53-man roster in order to prevent the Philadelphia Eagles from poaching him. At the time it was obvious Dallas viewed Jarwin as a potential long-term play.
Currently the Cowboys have Jarwin, Jason Witten, Geoff Swaim, and Rico Gathers as options at the tight end position. It stands to reason they’ll address the group next week during the draft, but it will definitely look quite different overall next season.
Hanna’s move to the reserve/retired list after Kyle Wilber left in free agency to the Oakland Raiders means that the Cowboys now only have one player left from their 2012 draft class. Shout out to Tyrone Crawford.
The impact on the salary cap is as follows according to OverTheCap.com:
Reserve/Retired– The retired list is what players are placed upon if they choose to retire rather than honor their contracts. This is more procedural than anything else. The player does not count towards the roster nor do they carry any cap charges as contracts are treated just as if the player was cut for salary cap purposes with prorated bonus money accelerating and being included as “dead money”. Teams do maintain the rights to players on the retired list. These lists are not included on the site.
Hanna’s cap number was $3.5 million for this season with $750,000 of that a pro-rated bonus which will become dead money.