How do the Cowboys proceed with DeMarcus Ware? The decision here, more than any other the club makes this off-season, signals whether Jones will take a more pragmatic approach to personnel in these .500 times. Let's get one thing out of the way from the start. The Cowboys will not threaten to cut Ware if he refuses to slice his pay in half. He is not Doug Free. This is where it gets tricky. Ware is one of the stars Jones goes to year in and year out to restructure to ease the team's salary cap crunch. The club has been willing to push Ware's money -- a base of $12.25 million in 2014 -- down the road because he has consistently performed at a high level. Jones can no longer make this assumption. Source: Dallas Morning News
I say trade him this year. Get a few picks for him. He will not get to his all pro numbers in this scheme. He is a 3-4 OLB not a DE. I am willing to bet there is a team out there with a 3-4 defense that will give up a good pick or two in this years draft. I feel this is the only way to get around this. He has made it very clear he isn't gonna take a pay cut. (and I don't blame him) And moving his money around to make it more cap friendly this year is just a band-aid on cancer at this point. So IMO the only thing left to do is trade him. It pains me to say it but it is time to move on from our only defensive HOFer. :(
He will be 32 by the start of next season. That plus his contract would scare most teams away. If I was a GM I would pass and look to the draft or free agency for a cheaper and younger alternative.
I keep hearing and reading various points of view. Mike Fisher of The Fan says there's no way that the Cowboys are going to renegotiate his contract. David Moore thinks that reducing Ware's base salary but putting incentives in the contract for Ware to get back some of that money may be a way to keep him.
Ware needs to get a new contract not restructure. The money he made the last 2 years don't reflect what he's put on the field. If he refuses I say cut him. Dallas needs to stop holding on to older players that aren't producing.
I think Ware would get 20 million plus guaranteed somewhere if hes cut. IMO a player that will command that you should try and trade
Ware is supposed to have surgery on his elbow next week on the 18th. Why do pro athletes wait so long to have surgery when they know that it has to be done? Mike Fisher of 105.3 The Fan offered this proposal for Ware's contract. Give him $7 million in guaranteed money in 2014 and $7 million in unguaranteed money in 2015. Thoughts?
I dont see why he couldnt be successful as a 43 DE. He did used to be one after all, and is from a similar "mold" as other successful Tampa De's ala Rice, Mathis, Freeney, etc.
