Getty Blake Jarwin with the ball
On a day they’ve (so far) failed to sign Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper, the Dallas Cowboys somewhat surprisingly sprung for another offensive starter.
The Cowboys on Monday announced a four-year, $24.2 million contract extension for tight end Blake Jarwin, who takes home $9.2 million guaranteed, cemented as Jason Witten’s permanent replacement.
The team confirmed the news on Twitter, showing Jarwin putting pen to paper. The contract will become official at 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday, the start of the new league year.
Done deal ✔️
Jarwin, 26, entered the offseason as a restricted free agent whom Dallas tendered at the second-round level. He was due to collect roughly $3.3 million for 2020. But a long-term pact had been in the works since last month’s Scouting Combine, where his agent, Kelli Masters, made headway with Cowboys brass.
A 2017 undrafted free agent by way of Oklahoma State, Jarwin has been buried in obscurity during his first three professional seasons. When he wasn’t taking a backseat to Witten, the 6-foot-5 safety blanket was fighting for scraps in a committee approach. Following a mostly redshirt rookie campaign, Jarwin made 16 appearances (four starts) in 2018, logging 27 catches for 307 yards and three touchdowns.
Witten’s unretirement this past season pushed Jarwin down the depth chart, and the result was another nondescript year: 31 receptions, 365 yards, three TDs. He flashed potential, however, especially toward the end of 2019, when it became clear that 37-year-old Witten was (literally) on his last legs.
Jarwin’s retention means the Cowboys have two primary TEs under contract for next season, the other being 2018 fourth-rounder Dalton Schultz. Witten, an unrestricted free agent, will move on to greener pastures, perhaps reuniting with Jason Garrett in New York.
A recent report claimed Dallas was negotiating with “at least” six in-house free agents. They’re expected to continue discussing a long-term deal with Cooper while aggressively courting reigning sack leader Robert Quinn, who could command nearly $12 million annually.
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Cowboys’ Most Overpaid Player for 2020 Season Revealed
At his current salary, Cowboys defensive end Tyrone Crawford earned a dubious distinction from Bleacher Report. The digital media giant chose Crawford as the Cowboys’ most overpaid player heading into 2020 NFL free agency.
Tyrone Crawford signed a five-year, $45 million contract extension during the 2015 campaign. He’s now in the final year of said deal after missing 12 games last season and requiring two surgeries on his hips to repair labral tears, according to ESPN’s Todd Archer.
Considering the Cowboys’ continued contractual negotiations with others and Crawford’s $9.1 million salary-cap hit this year, the defensive lineman is an ideal candidate to restructure his deal or be released.
A 2012 third-round draft pick, Crawford is entering the final year of the $45 million extension he inked in 2015, due to collect $8 million in base salary and count $9.1 million against the salary cap. By designating him a pre-June 1 cut, the Cowboys would clear $8 million in cap space and absorb only $1.1 million in dead money.
For now, Crawford tentatively is penciled in as a starting DE opposite $105 million man DeMarcus Lawrence.
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