Imagine if you will Demarcus Ware still on this defensive line

[perrykemp]

Hindsight is 20-20. Had the Cowboys known they would be the best team in the NFC at the half-way mark DESPITE averaging less than 1 sack per game they would have kept Ware.

Again, hindsight.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

I agree that he had to go, but let's not pretend we are better off without him in any way other then salary cap. A heathy Ware is better then anyone currently on our line

He was getting thrown around like a rag doll last year.
He was EASILY taken out of plays and rendered ineffective.

 

[mldardy]

I agree that he had to go, but let's not pretend we are better off without him in any way other then salary cap. A heathy Ware is better then anyone currently on our line

We are better off without him. There's no pretend about it. Our defense is better and our team is better. Great Ware has 7 sacks would we be 7-0 if he was still here and have 7 sacks? No we wouldn't. We might actually be worse because the defense would be waiting for Ware to do something he hasn't been able to do the past couple of years with us. Look sacks are nice (and they also aren't everything) but this defense is doing it's job without Ware very well.

 

[Future]

My problem is this - If we hadn't mismanaged the salary cap in prior years, we could have easily offered Ware a deal similar to what Denver did. His initial 2009 signing bonus was manageable for a player of his stature, $20M is not terrible amortization totals by any stretch. The base salaries in the contract from 2009-2013 never even topped $8M, so at most you were talking about a $12M natural cap hit in those years. 2014 & 2015 was where the salaries jumped up, but we could have easily restructured that deal to the same contract that Denver offered. The reason we couldn't was because we mismanaged other players salaries and had to borrow from Ware's (actually manageable) base salaries to fix messes of contracts like Hamlin, Senabaugh, Ratliff, Roy Williams, etc etc

Restructuring deals is what got Dallas in trouble initially...not to mention that $12 is probably double what we should have paid Ware anyways. The guy is 32 and coming off of the worst year of his career and had been fighting injuries. No way I'm paying him $12 million or whatever.

I sure as heck wouldn't have given him what Denver did either, but they're selling out to win right now.

 

[Bull Frog]

I love Ware, but do not forget he has Von Miller on the other side so he is avoiding double teams. If we still had Ware, Selvie may be more productive among others, but I don't think he would have 7 sacks and everyone on the board would be saying Jerry was an idiot for resigning a beat down 32 year old DE. I wish him the best.

 

[Carolina Cowboy]

Wonder what Ware thinks about the 2014 Cowboys, .. the Ware-less Cowboys, .. the Rolando McClain led Cowboys, ... being 6-1 and leading the NFL?

For a moment I thought about the OPs question (specifically an edge rusher - Ware with this team). Within seconds I came to the conclusion / hypothesis that if he were on the team, maybe RoMac would not have been the influence / leader that he has become for this team. Who knows. I'm happy for Ware, and even happier for this version of my team.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

If I new that we would be as good as we appear to be, at this point, I think I might have tried to find the room. A guy who can bring pressure and demand double teams off the edge would be very valuable for us. I mean, it is what it is and I don't think we should dwell on it. No way anybody could know that this team would come together like this this year.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

I think Claiborne is an example of addition by subtraction.

plenty of differences exist. The OL is better. We have a great fill in for the injured Lee, and our defensive coordinator isn't moonlighting in the Walking Dead. This team would be way better with Ware and Hatcher. Ratliff ended up being a cancer, so he might be addition by subtraction.

What proof do you have we'd be better with Hatcher and Ware? That was the exact same team that went 8-8 last year lol.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Hindsight is 20-20. Had the Cowboys known they would be the best team in the NFC at the half-way mark DESPITE averaging less than 1 sack per game they would have kept Ware.

Not true. His contract wouldn't have changed and a move still would have been made.

 

[mahoneybill]

Marinelli has this D playing with hustle, and a never give up attitude. I for one am impressed the way out D lineman are chasing the QB's . Would prefer a sack or hit, but still they won't let them just sit back there and set up as was the case a lot of the time in past years.

Sure I miss the Harvey Martin, Charles Haley, D Ware comfort on a needed third down to come up with a sack, but until their replacement arrives I'm very satisfied with our " Team D"

 

[Eric_Boyer]

What proof do you have we'd be better with Hatcher and Ware? That was the exact same team that went 8-8 last year lol.

I just listed a bunch of reasons why we are not the same team as last year. Ware and Hatcher would be a tremendous boost to our rushman rotation. We might actually get some sacks with them.

 

[ilykdrama]

Ware wasn't even pulling double teams anymore. Nicest guy in the world until it came down to money, and then he turned into Gordon Gecko. Gotcha. Thanks for your time, but I can't wait for Tyron to own you in the Super Bowl. Not a Ware fan when it was all said and done. Even had his jersey. Guy had nothing of a nasty streak and didn't even have the bravado to be a leader.

 

[vlad]

In my opinion people saying we would NOT be better with Ware are not considering all factors.

If i recall the article I will post it, it was very Sturm-like in research. Basically it said in past years, because we were pass happy, the D was not only out there more in time, but more frequently in drives (meaning 3 and outs by the offense). Our 3rd down conversion rate has been through the roof, so our D gets out there less frequently and less duration = less tired.

The article goes on to state in prior years, because DWare was so much our main threat, teams started running straight at him, making him expend a great deal of effort to defend the run, while also hammering his body. Then by the end of the game, because they did not spell him much, he'd be running on fumes. This years offense being control-oriented forces team to feel more urgency to maximize drives for points, e.g. trying to pass. This lightens the wear and tear tremendously on the D-line, and thus they can be more aggressive and have much more energy to do everything, including rushing the passer - something we see in their play every week. BTW, I am a fan of Mincey and how he is playing, but I think its pretty silly to compare the two.

If you gave Ware that opportunity, I can't imagine our D would not be much better - I mean this guy is one of the best defensive players ever and still performing - the guy was hurt as can be last year and still gave it his all. One thing I'll say for a large part of our fan-base (at least on this board) - super ungrateful. I have zero issue cutting a guy if he's done or costs too much, but people act like he was a punk or something. Very unfortunate.

 

[Eddie]

I loved Ware, but no way we could have kept him at $20 million a year.

 

[BAT]

The Ware hate is confusing, and just a little disgusting.

Okay, maybe not a little, a lot disgusting. Ware on this D would give it the same boost as Charles Haley on the 90's team. And Haley was always battling injuries when that D was dominating. Ware was a business decision, clearly, pretending otherwise is disengenuous and ignorant.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

Imagine if you will who wouldn't be on this team if Ware was still on our cap.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

I get the money thing and I understand from that aspect why they felt Ware wasn't worth it anymore.

However this team would be better with Ware. I don't know how people can watch that man play, and see what he's doing, and think that having him here wouldn't make this team better. It just doesn't make sense to me.

To each their own.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

I just listed a bunch of reasons why we are not the same team as last year. Ware and Hatcher would be a tremendous boost to our rushman rotation. We might actually get some sacks with them.

Who's to say the OL would be better? Who's to say we even draft OL if Hatcher and Ware is here? Maybe they go defensive linemen to make that side of the ball more dominant. Who's to say we trade McClain? I think its amazing that people assume had we kept paying Ware what we had been paying him that it wouldn't have effected this teams moves for now and the future.

They were going to re-sign Tyron at that time if they had Ware on the roster?

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Imagine if you will who wouldn't be on this team if Ware was still on our cap.

People think the roster would be the same. We'd have all the same acquisitions and roster moves with Ware and Hatcher on this roster lol.

 

[Zordon]

Imagine this defense's attitude with Ware on it. Can't do it, right?