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Saturday in Phoenix, we'll find out if Charles Haley finally has the votes to become the 15th Dallas Cowboy to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He, Jimmy Johnson and Darren Woodson all have opportunities to join that exclusive club in the years to come.

But beyond that, there's one current member of the Cowboys who probably holds the best chance of earning a spot in Canton, Ohio, and that's tight end Jason Witten. Witten's only 32, but he's been so damn steady, consistent and productive over the first 12 years of his career that we can already start pondering his Hall of Fame chances.

Let's do exactly that.

The numbers are in his favor

The bad news, as Rick Gosselin of the Dallas Morning News points out, is that Witten plays a position that hasn't historically received a lot of love from Hall of Fame voters:

Tight ends are not a priority in Canton. There are only 8 of them in the Hall of Fame and even the best of them had to wait. John Mackey was chosen by the Hall of Fame selection committee in 2000 as the only tight end on the NFL's all-time team—and even he had wait 15 years to get in.

But the good news is Witten has still managed to stand out among players at that position.

Witten, who hasn't missed a game since he was a rookie in 2003, is coming off his 11th consecutive 700-yard season. That's something only Tony Gonzalez did more than 10 times. He and Gonzalez are also the only two tight ends in history to hit the 1,000-yard mark on four occasions (Shannon Sharpe and Kellen Winslow did it three times each).

Among active tight ends, he and Gates are head and shoulders above their peers:

Active receiving leaders among tight ends Tight end Age REC YDS TD REC% 1. Jason Witten 32 943 10,502 57 70.7 2. Antonio Gates 34 788 10,014 99 66.6 3. Heath Miller 32 532 6,034 43 71.5 4. Vernon Davis 30 423 5,.46 55 61.6 5. Kellen Winslow 31 469 5,236 25 62.0 6. Greg Olsen 29 465 5,188 42 61.8 7. Owen Daniels 32 433 5,144 33 63.7 8. Jimmy Graham 28 386 4,752 51 64.8 9. Rob Gronkowski 25 308 4,379 54 67.1 10. Brent Celek 30 344 4,315 27 63.8 Pro Football Reference

There's still room for Vernon Davis and Greg Olsen to draw closer, and Jimmy Graham and Rob Gronkowski have a lot of time on their side, but that's a landslide right now, especially if you consider Witten's advantage in the reception rate category.

Graham, Gronkowski, Davis and Gates—who are very different from Witten—have edges in terms of yards per catch, but longevity and durability are keys here.

That's a big reason why Witten already has done more than any tight end currently in the Hall of Fame:

Jason Witten compared to Hall of Fame tight ends Tight end REC YDS YDS/GM TD Pro Bowl All-Pro Jason Witten 943 10,502 55.0 57 9 2 Shannon Sharpe 815 10,060 49.3 62 8 4 Ozzie Newsome 662 7,980 40.3 47 7 3 Jackie Smith 480 7,918 37.7 40 5 4 Kellen Winslow 541 6,741 61.8 45 5 2 Mike Ditka 427 5,812 36.8 43 5 3 John Mackey 331 5,236 37.7 38 5 0 Dave Casper 378 5,216 35.5 52 5 3 Charlie Sanders 336 4,817 37.6 31 3 1 Pro Football Reference

Only Winslow had more yards per game, only Sharpe had more touchdowns, and nobody made as many Pro Bowls.

Even when accounting for "inflation"

It's impossible to compare players from separate eras using broad stats. The game has changed far too much. So we have to consider that when viewing Witten in comparison to the eight Hall of Famers above.

Being a Hall of Famer is all about being one of the best players in a particular era. Mike Ditka and Mackey wouldn't even register as Pro Bowlers, let alone Hall of Famers, with those numbers today, but they had a combined 10 Pro Bowls and three first-team All-Pro nods between them back in the 1960s and 1970s.

Here's where Witten has ranked within the two decades in which he's been active, compared to those same eight Hall of Famers:

Where they ranked within general eras in which they played Tight end 20-year era REC YDS TD Pro Bowl All-Pro Jason Witten 2000-2020 2nd 2nd 3rd 2nd 3rd Shannon Sharpe 1990-2010 2nd 2nd 3rd 2nd 2nd Ozzie Newsome 1970-1990 1st 1st 3rd 9th 7th Jackie Smith 1960-1980 1st 1st 7th 2nd 7th Kellen Winslow 1970-1990 2nd 2nd 4th 1st 2nd Mike Ditka 1960-1980 2nd 2nd 6th 2nd 5th John Mackey 1960-1980 11th 8th 9th 2nd 2nd Dave Casper 1970-1990 8th 7th 1st 1st 1st Charlie Sanders 1960-1980 10th 12th 13th 1st 2nd Pro Football Reference

Across the board, only Sharpe fares as well as Witten, who was forced to play most of his career next to two fellow prime Hall of Fame candidates, Gonzalez and Gates. Witten does have a chance to slide within his era in the next half-decade, especially with Graham and Gronk in their prime, but he'll also have an opportunity to keep gaining on the now-retired Gonzalez.

Eleven seasons into his career, Pro Football Reference determined that the two tight ends who compared best to Witten's career were Hall of Famers Ozzie Newsome and Jackie Smith. PFR also attempts to blend eras by using a metric called "approximate value." In that area, among those who spent all or most of their careers at the tight end position, Witten ranks fifth all time:

Highest approximate career values among tight ends Tight end Approx. value Hall of Famer? 1. Tony Gonzalez 148 TBD 2. Antonio Gates 105 TBD 3. Shannon Sharpe 104 Yes 4. Jackie Smith 95 Yes 5. Jason Witten 89 TBD 6. Ozzie Newsome 77 Yes 7. Kellen Winslow 71 Yes Pro Football Reference

Working against him: team success (or lack thereof)

According to Gosselin, 83 percent of all Hall of Famers either played on, coached or owned championship teams. Here's how Hall of Fame tight ends have fared in that area:

How HOF tight ends fared in the playoffs compared to Witten Tight end Playoff wins Championships Shannon Sharpe 13 3 John Mackey 5 1 Dave Casper 4 1 Mike Ditka 3 1 Kellen Winslow 3 0 Ozzie Newsome 3 0 Jason Witten 2 0 Jackie Smith 1 0 Charlie Sanders 0 0 Pro Football Reference

A championship would probably be the icing on the cake for Witten, but at least his modern-day counterparts haven't done much better in this area. Gonzalez, Gates, Graham and Gronkowski have a combined zero championships and have an average of three postseason victories each.

The reality is that wins and losses continue to impact coaches and quarterbacks to much more of an extent than they do players at other positions.

Regarding the four G's

Gonzalez, Gates, Graham and Gronkowski can really complicate things. Gonzalez retired with a far stronger resume, Gates has 42 more touchdowns than Witten in 12 fewer games, and Graham and Gronk are averaging significantly more yards per catch and yards per game. Those two have had more team success, and both are within six touchdowns of Witten's total despite the fact they're much younger.

Witten vs. the four G's: Rate-based stats Tight end REC/GM YDS/GM TD/GM YDS/REC Rob Gronkowski 4.7 67.4 0.83 14.2 Jimmy Graham 4.9 60.9 0.65 12.3 Tony Gonzalez 4.9 56.0 0.41 11.4 Antonio Gates 4.4 55.9 0.55 12.7 Jason Witten 4.9 55.0 0.30 11.1 Pro Football Reference

If three of those four G's continue to perform at high levels, it could hurt Witten's case in a major way. The Hall of Fame has already been dealing with a substantial receiver backlog in recent years, and tight ends rarely get inducted right away.

Sharpe, Newsome and Winslow had to wait a few years, while Smith, Dave Casper, Ditka, Charlie Sanders and Mackey all had to wait more than a decade. There's no such thing as a first-ballot Hall of Fame tight end, although Gonzalez might change that.

That means that Gates and Witten will inevitably have to wait, regardless of what they do between now and retirement. And if Graham and Gronk continue to tear it up, we could have four tight ends on the waiting list approximately a decade from now.

But eventually, regardless of what happens between now and the moment he decides he's had enough, Witten should have a place in Canton.

Brad Gagnon has covered the NFC East for Bleacher Report since 2012.

Follow @Brad_Gagnon