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Cowlishaw: DeMarcus Ware won't be back; move shows Cowboys know they're no Super Bowl team
Tim Cowlishaw
wtcowlishaw@dallasnews.com
Published: 11 March 2014 08:17 PM
Updated: 12 March 2014 06:38 AM
If this column bears the muted sound of one hand clapping, consider the difficulty in typing a tribute to the Cowboys general manager.
On the one hand, it is rarely (if ever) called for. On the other, the source of this mini-exultation is the news that the worst defensive team in the NFL is parting ways with its most dynamic player.
The post-DeMarcus Ware era is upon us, and don’t believe for a minute that he and his agent will simply test the free-agent waters only to come crawling back to the Cowboys, saying they failed to secure an offer.
Ware will get the offer he wants. Ware is gone.
How can this possibly be a good thing for the league's 32nd-ranked defense, given that Ware is only 31 years old?
It’s mostly — but not entirely — a case of money.
We applaud the forward thinking teams of this league that use the unique status of NFL contracts, cutting players when they are simply starting to leave the prime of their careers in order to make room for newer, younger, cheaper talent.
New England has been doing this for a decade. The New York Giants do it. The New Orleans Saints just cast off about half their defense (it seemed) to retool and invest in the future.
The Cowboys? That’s the team that forever tries to get by with Jerry Jones’ favorites, always keeping the salary cap at bay by re-working contracts and moving today’s problems into tomorrowland.
In part, those past reworkings caught up with the Cowboys on Tuesday. DeMarcus Ware was never supposed to count more than $16 million against the cap, but the club had shifted his money and his cap figure down the line until this crossroads was reached.
We don’t know what sort of reduction (if any) that Ware and his agent, Pat Dye, were willing to take in order to stay in Dallas. It sounds as if they were against any sort of pay cut.
It seemed they were answering Jerry Jones’ game of chicken with one of their own by telling the Cowboys they needed a decision by the time free-agency arrived at 3 p.m. They got their wish. The Cowboys cut a Ring of Honor candidate with nothing more than a news release.
Given that no one really knows the answer to how much Ware was in decline last year or how much injuries contributed to his low sack total (six), I have to think the correct decision was made.
For once, Jones chose not to shove today’s worries into next year’s cap. It’s possible that Ware signs with a 3-4 team, returns to his old outside linebacker position and goes to the 2014 Pro Bowl.
Possible. I wouldn’t say it’s likely.
The Cowboys need to admit that they are not a Super Bowl team (that’s not what they’re saying, but it IS what they’re doing) and find younger talent. And, yes, they have done it before.
After all, someone drafted Ware in 2005 when coach Bill Parcells was pushing for another outside linebacker, Shawne Merriman, who began his pro career with three straight Pro Bowl trips for San Diego.
Merriman faded quickly after that. He retired from the NFL a year ago.
Ware, undoubtedly, has football left in him, but his decline in sacks the last two seasons (from 191/2 to 111/2 to six) is a good indicator of which way he’s most likely headed.
The pertinent question now is: What do the Cowboys do?
They suddenly find themselves with $9 million in cap room, a figure that will grow beyond $14 million when wide receiver Miles Austin (notified Tuesday of his pending release) gets his official walking papers in June.
It’s almost certain Dallas will remain on the sidelines as the big free-agency dollars are passed out. That’s a good thing. The Cowboys’ plays as big spenders have almost never panned out, and the same goes for other clubs.
But they have to do something. And they have to absolutely nail their first two picks in a May draft that is filled with defensive linemen.
In hindsight, Cowboys fans wish Jones has learned this lesson a year ago when he was giving all that money to Jay Ratliff, a failed attempt to placate the recalcitrant tackle.
Instead, Jones found religion when Ware’s name was called. It’s a painful first step into a process the Cowboys had to stop avoiding.
Tim Cowlishaw
wtcowlishaw@dallasnews.com
Published: 11 March 2014 08:17 PM
Updated: 12 March 2014 06:38 AM
If this column bears the muted sound of one hand clapping, consider the difficulty in typing a tribute to the Cowboys general manager.
On the one hand, it is rarely (if ever) called for. On the other, the source of this mini-exultation is the news that the worst defensive team in the NFL is parting ways with its most dynamic player.
The post-DeMarcus Ware era is upon us, and don’t believe for a minute that he and his agent will simply test the free-agent waters only to come crawling back to the Cowboys, saying they failed to secure an offer.
Ware will get the offer he wants. Ware is gone.
How can this possibly be a good thing for the league's 32nd-ranked defense, given that Ware is only 31 years old?
It’s mostly — but not entirely — a case of money.
We applaud the forward thinking teams of this league that use the unique status of NFL contracts, cutting players when they are simply starting to leave the prime of their careers in order to make room for newer, younger, cheaper talent.
New England has been doing this for a decade. The New York Giants do it. The New Orleans Saints just cast off about half their defense (it seemed) to retool and invest in the future.
The Cowboys? That’s the team that forever tries to get by with Jerry Jones’ favorites, always keeping the salary cap at bay by re-working contracts and moving today’s problems into tomorrowland.
In part, those past reworkings caught up with the Cowboys on Tuesday. DeMarcus Ware was never supposed to count more than $16 million against the cap, but the club had shifted his money and his cap figure down the line until this crossroads was reached.
We don’t know what sort of reduction (if any) that Ware and his agent, Pat Dye, were willing to take in order to stay in Dallas. It sounds as if they were against any sort of pay cut.
It seemed they were answering Jerry Jones’ game of chicken with one of their own by telling the Cowboys they needed a decision by the time free-agency arrived at 3 p.m. They got their wish. The Cowboys cut a Ring of Honor candidate with nothing more than a news release.
Given that no one really knows the answer to how much Ware was in decline last year or how much injuries contributed to his low sack total (six), I have to think the correct decision was made.
For once, Jones chose not to shove today’s worries into next year’s cap. It’s possible that Ware signs with a 3-4 team, returns to his old outside linebacker position and goes to the 2014 Pro Bowl.
Possible. I wouldn’t say it’s likely.
The Cowboys need to admit that they are not a Super Bowl team (that’s not what they’re saying, but it IS what they’re doing) and find younger talent. And, yes, they have done it before.
After all, someone drafted Ware in 2005 when coach Bill Parcells was pushing for another outside linebacker, Shawne Merriman, who began his pro career with three straight Pro Bowl trips for San Diego.
Merriman faded quickly after that. He retired from the NFL a year ago.
Ware, undoubtedly, has football left in him, but his decline in sacks the last two seasons (from 191/2 to 111/2 to six) is a good indicator of which way he’s most likely headed.
The pertinent question now is: What do the Cowboys do?
They suddenly find themselves with $9 million in cap room, a figure that will grow beyond $14 million when wide receiver Miles Austin (notified Tuesday of his pending release) gets his official walking papers in June.
It’s almost certain Dallas will remain on the sidelines as the big free-agency dollars are passed out. That’s a good thing. The Cowboys’ plays as big spenders have almost never panned out, and the same goes for other clubs.
But they have to do something. And they have to absolutely nail their first two picks in a May draft that is filled with defensive linemen.
In hindsight, Cowboys fans wish Jones has learned this lesson a year ago when he was giving all that money to Jay Ratliff, a failed attempt to placate the recalcitrant tackle.
Instead, Jones found religion when Ware’s name was called. It’s a painful first step into a process the Cowboys had to stop avoiding.
