NFL notebook: Witten retires, joins Monday Night Football

Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten retired from the NFL and will join ESPN as an analyst for Monday Night Football. ESPN released a statement on Thursday, announcing Witten will join Monday Night Football this coming season. Witten reportedly waffled on his future for the past week before informing Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and head coach Jason Garrett of his decision. He made the decision official in his emotional retirement speech in Frisco, Texas. In addition to weighing an offer from ESPN's Monday Night Football, another network made an "interesting" last minute proposal to the soon-to-be 36-year-old Witten, ESPN announced, without divulging the name of the other network. The Dallas Morning News cited two sources in reporting that the Monday Night Football offer from ESPN would pay Witten between $4 million and $4.5 million annually. By comparison, Witten would have earned a base salary of $1.05 million and up to $750,000 in per-game roster bonuses with the Cowboys this season. Witten is the franchise leader in games played (239), receptions (1,152) and receiving yards (12,448). --Quarterback Matt Ryan has become the highest paid NFL player. The Atlanta Falcons announced on Thursday that Ryan agreed to a five-year contract extension, and multiple media outlets reported it will pay him an average of $30 million a year. The deal is worth a total $150 million, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. It includes $100 million in guarantees and keeps Ryan under contract through 2023. Ryan's new average annual salary surpasses the three-year, $84 million deal (all guaranteed) quarterback Kirk Cousins just got from the Minnesota Vikings. --Washington Redskins cheerleaders were required to pose topless for a calendar photo shoot in 2013 while spectators invited by the club looked on, the New York Times reported Wednesday. Per the newspaper, the photo shoot was held at the adults-only Occidental Grand Papagayo resort in Culebra Bay, Costa Rica. The cheerleaders were told that the photographs used for the calendar would not show nudity. The New York Times also reported that some of the cheerleaders were then required to attend a nightclub event as escorts for some of the team's male sponsors. The cheerleaders said there was no sex involved in the incidents that occurred during a weeklong trip to Costa Rica. They also said they were not paid aside from the cost of the trip, meals and lodging. --Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Timmy Jernigan underwent surgery on a herniated disc in his back last week and is expected to be sidelined four to six months, multiple media outlets reported. The Eagles' first regular-season game is against the Atlanta Falcons on Sept. 6, therefore the more optimistic timeframe would place him three days before that contest. Jernigan could open the season on the Physically Unable to Perform list, per ESPN. Jernigan's injury occurred during an offseason workout in March. Per ESPN, the Eagles reworked Jernigan's contract and will now pay him $3 million guaranteed this season, but no longer will be liable for the $11 million guaranteed that was due next season as part of the four-year, $48 million extension he signed after being acquired in a trade with the Baltimore Ravens. --The Detroit Lions traded defensive tackle Akeem Spence to the Miami Dolphins for an undisclosed pick in next year's NFL Draft, the Lions announced Thursday. ESPN.com reported the Lions will receive a conditional seventh-round draft pick in 2019. The Lions signed Spence to a three-year, $9 million deal as a free agent last offseason. He started 11 games for the Lions in 2017, recording a career-high 39 tackles, three sacks and a forced fumble. --Former Arizona Cardinals coach Bruce Arians will work in a three-man broadcast booth with Greg Gumbel and Trent Green in 2018, CBS Sports announced. Arians, who is known for his honest and emotional personality, announced his retirement as the Cardinals coach after the 2017 season. --Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson led his team to a Super Bowl victory this past season, and the team rewarded him with some additional job security. The Eagles have picked up the fifth-year option on Pederson's contract, Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reported Thursday. That means Pederson is now under contract through the 2020 season. --Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst is confident that superstar quarterback Aaron Rodgers will have a new contract in the near future. "Both sides are working towards it and we're confident we'll come to an agreement soon," Gutekunst said Thursday on Pro Football Talk. Gutekunst didn't give a timeframe on the term "soon," however. --New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady plans to take advantage of the NFL's grandfather policy in regard to his helmet. The league has prohibited players from wearing 10 helmet models that did not perform well in safety testing, and Brady's VSR-4 helmet is on that list. Brady, a three-time NFL Most Valuable Player, says he's comfortable with his helmet and doesn't wish to change his ways. Brady will have one more season with his preferred helmet, which was introduced back in 1993. --The New York Jets will trim their quarterback depth chart to four names when they release Bryce Petty, multiple media outlets reported. The move will leave 2018 third overall pick Sam Darnold of USC with Josh McCown, free-agent addition Teddy Bridgewater and 2016 second-round pick Christian Hackenberg on the quarterback depth chart. New York reportedly attempted to trade Petty this offseason but did not find a suitor. --An arrest warrant against New York Jets wide receiver Robby Anderson has been rescinded, multiple media outlets reported . A warrant had been issued Wednesday for Anderson for missing a court date that stemmed from a January arrest in Broward County, Fla. But Anderson's attorney, Ed O'Donnell, said that he and Anderson had not been notified of the court date. O'Donnell told Mike Garafolo of NFL Media that the warrant has been rescinded and that it was the result of a clerical error. Anderson is now scheduled for a July 19 appearance in court regarding a charge of reckless driving from January. --Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier will not play this season, and the team has converted $8.26 million of his $8.718 million base salary for 2018 into a signing bonus, ESPN.com reported Thursday. This move will allow Shazier to receive the money immediately, and the rest of his salary will be paid over the course of the 2018 season. This is the final year of Shazier's contract. --New York Giants defensive tackle A.J. Francis didn't wait long to take a shot at his former team. Francis was released by the Washington Redskins on Monday after the team selected Alabama's Da'Ron Payne in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft and Virginia Tech's Tim Settle in the fifth to boost their defensive interior. The 27-year-old Francis, who signed with the Giants on Wednesday, ripped his former club on Instagram and called out their "racist" logo. He posted a picture of himself laughing with the following caption: "When the team you were on didn't appreciate you but the team you played against actually pays attention to the film." He wrote in the hashtags he was looking forward to playing the Redskins twice next season and added "#AndYourLogoIsRacist." --Former Kansas City Chiefs star linebacker Derrick Johnson is visiting with the AFC West-rival Oakland Raiders on Thursday, multiple media outlets reported. The Chiefs elected against re-signing Johnson this offseason after the 35-year-old spent 13 seasons (2005-17) with the team. --The NFL is planning to look into the circumstances that led the Buffalo Bills to part ways with managing partner and president Russ Brandon, the Buffalo News reported Thursday. The league has not decided whether it will investigate the situation. Brandon resigned as the Bills and Buffalo Sabres president on Tuesday. Brandon's departure came after an internal investigation of Brandon's workplace behavior and allegations of inappropriate relationships with female employees, Tim Graham of the Buffalo News reported.