There was going to be a surprise move out there at some point with NFL free agency getting underway. That move may have come from the Dallas Cowboys as they released all-time team sack leader DeMarcus Ware on Tuesday. Ware will be 32 years old this July and was going to count $16 million against the salary cap this season to go with his $12.25 million base salary. It is a move that opens up many doors for both Ware and the Cowboys and saves the team $7.4 million against the cap.
Ware is going to be sought out after by many teams who believe he has plenty left. He had a career-low six sacks in 2013 and did miss the first three games with a quad strain but is still a very dominant player. He had elbow surgery this offseason as well and obviously Dallas decided they wanted to go a different direction on defense. The Cowboys will likely look at what is still out there in free agency even though that has been picked through very quickly.
Ware was in a 3-4 system with the Cowboys so that would probably be his best option at this point of his career. He is going to land somewhere sooner than later especially with what he can do as a pass rusher. He has 117 sacks in nine seasons and went to the Pro Bowl every season from 2006 to 2012. There aren’t very many players like that available. It will remind some people of when the Philadelphia Eagles decided to part ways with Reggie White. White ended up with the Green Bay Packers where he would win a Super Bowl. Ware could have a similar fate.
The rumors and signings will continue around the Cowboys especially with the attention the team always gets. The departure of Ware leaves a big hole however on their defense especially after being one of the worst teams on that side of the ball in 2013. Changes were going to happen and the first shoe to drop was the release of Ware. It’s now up to Jerry Jones to figure out what his next plan is to get the team back into contention for the playoffs and maybe a Super Bowl sooner than later.
