What's Crazier The Bryce Harper Deal Or Jason Witten Unretiring?
So the sports world gifted us with 2 pretty big shocking bits of news today.
Photo Credit: USA Today
First we will start off with the one that nobody saw coming. And when I say nobody, I mean nobody in their wildest dreams could have seen Jason Witten coming out of retirement. I mean just take a look at Ian Rapoport’s tweet.
When I first saw this on twitter I had to check this tweet up and down just to make sure it was real. Did Rapoport have the blue check, followed by having to triple check the date of his tweet to make sure I wasn’t being tricked. And oh yes it was real. Jason Witten is returning to the Dallas Cowboys for what I assume is a 1 year deal that’s worth up to $5 million. Witten retired after the 2017 season, a season in which his numbers had continued to drop but still weren’t terrible by any means for a TE. He joined the Monday Night Football commentating booth last year and was definitely out of place and probably on his way to getting fired, but here we are with him coming out of retirement to rejoin the Cowboys at the age of 36. Also he will be 37 by the time the season starts. Who knows, maybe a year off and him coming back refreshed will do him some good. There’s absolutely no denying the man’s love of the game that’s for sure.
Then around an hour later, we were gifted with the news we’ve been all waiting to hear for months……
Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated
Bryce Harper finally signing with the Philadelphia Phillies. Now we’ve been waiting for what feels like an eternity for this to happen so it’s not that big of a shock that he signed but rather the terms of the contract. Bryce Harper’s deals with the Phillies is for a 13 yr $330 million contract. Yep, you read that right, 13 years. Bryce Harper and the Philadelphia will be married till the day his career is over as this contract also has no opt outs and a full no trade clause.
I will have to admit though that I can kind of respect this move by Bryce Harper. I feel like he definitely could have went out and got a deal like Machado or Arenado who both didn’t get as long of a contract but did get a higher annual salary. While Machado is getting $30 million for the next 10 yrs and Arenado is getting $32.5 for the next 8 years, Harper will only be getting a little over $25 for the next 13 years. He could have easily got a higher AAV, as it’s been rumored that the LA Dodgers offered him a 4 year deal worth $180. Yes a $45 million annual salary, but instead he opted for Philly for the long-term. Again, I respect the fact that he’s willing to lock down his career with one team.
In the end, it’s been a heck of a sports day with the Kyler Murray news that he’s an inch taller than initially thought to the unretiring of Jason Witten to Bryce Harper finally choosing a home. Not a bad sports day for a February.