It's time to cut Demarcus Ware

[TrailBlazer]

We can only replace so many pieces next year. We can also only mire us in so much salary cap hell.

Of course, if he has three sacks against the Skins, this thread will be dead and buried and suddenly everyone will begin screaming 'HOF in Year 1' as fans are fickle with a 'what have you done lately' type of mentality. Like many others, Ware is a good player on a bad team.

He still won't be worth 12.25mil next year which is the point.

 

[TrailBlazer]

Why would you trade him after a 19.5 sack season?

Bc we could've got a first for him. And he's not worth all this money we will have to pay him. 12.25 mil in 2014. He's not the player that can put us over the top.

 

[KJJ]

Bc we could've got a first for him. And he's not worth all this money we will have to pay him. 12.25 mil in 2014. He's not the player that can put us over the top.

We're talking about 2 years ago that's when you said you first wanted to trade him. He was certainly worth all the money then and no one could project at the time when his production would drop to the point that the thought of releasing him would enter anyones mind. He was coming off 19.5 sacks in 2011 and was arguably the best passer rusher in the game and one of the Cowboys 3 best players. Had the Cowboys traded him after the 2011 season Jerry would have gotten roasted by the media and Cowboys Nation. His sanity would have been seriously questioned making a move like that. Although Ware would have been 30 by the start of the 2012 season the Cowboys would have gotten more than a #1 for him in a trade. After a 19.5 sack season some team pushing for a SB might have coughed up two #1's for him. Let's say the Cowboys only got a #1 they would have had to use the pick to try and replace Ware. You're forced to go after another pass rusher who's going to help make up for some of the sacks you're losing.

The Cowboys would have been trading a great player for a roll of the dice in the draft. They could have ended up with another Shante Carver or Ebenezer Ekuban. Highly unlikely they would have landed an impact player even close to the ability of Ware regardless that he hasn't been able to put the team over the top. There's only so much one defender can do on a dysfunctional team. KC traded Jared Allen in 08 to Minnesota for a #1 and a #3 and that trade helped the Vikings more than the Chiefs. The Vikings went from 8-8 in 07 to 10-6 and the playoffs the following year while the Chiefs went from 4-12 in 07 to 2-14 the following year. While KC was 4-12 in 09 Minnesota was 12-4 and playing in the NFC title game. I wouldn't trade a player who put up 19.5 sacks for a roll of the dice in the draft. A lot of fans wanted to trade Romo after last season and some even wanted him cut because they had given up on him after his meltdown in Washington in week 17. They said the Cowboys wouldn't have the cap room and if they found a way to sign him it would leave the team cap strapped.

None of this trade/cut him talk would have happened had Romo played well vs Washington and the Cowboys won that game. If Ware comes up with 4-5 sacks in the next 3 games and 2 of those are on Nick Foles in week 17 in the final few minutes to help seal a win and a playoff birth for the Cowboys no one will be talking about cutting him then. Like I mentioned earlier if things don't go well for Ware the last 3 games and the Cowboys miss the playoffs again Jerry may blowup the defense and Ware could go up in ashes with it. In 2000 Aikman was on the decline and injured and Jerry decided to part ways with him after a disappointing season. If he can move on from Aikman he can move on from anyone.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Up until now his salary has been reasonable $5m and $8m. They are not going to be $12m, $14m, $17m the following seasons.

Ware for the good of his career, needs to be on the field and play 20 or so passing downs a game. He doesn't need to be playing the run game where he is going to make that many more hits with OT looking to hit him. You just cannot rely on him to be on the field and effective anymore 50 snaps a game.

Given that he needs to either take a pay cut or be let go.

 

[17yearsandcounting]

DeMarcus has done a ton for this team, I would give him a chance under a new regime.

This Grandpa2 has led to regression at all 11 positions..

 

[Nightman]

They can save 7.5m by trading him or restructuring him for 1 more year. I wouldn't just cut him unless we got a surefire replacement in the draft. A June 1st cut would save 12.5m against the cap.

 

[Hoofbite]

Oh, how quickly a fan base will turn just to save a little money that supposedly never meant anything in the first place.

Restructuring.......that's not a problem. Well, not until the guy slumps a bit and has a hyper-inflated cap number from all the previous restructuring. Once that happens though, it's grounds for getting cut.

 

[Hoofbite]

Up until now his salary has been reasonable $5m and $8m. They are not going to be $12m, $14m, $17m the following seasons.

Ware for the good of his career, needs to be on the field and play 20 or so passing downs a game. He doesn't need to be playing the run game where he is going to make that many more hits with OT looking to hit him. You just cannot rely on him to be on the field and effective anymore 50 snaps a game.

Given that he needs to either take a pay cut or be let go.

Reasonable? $5M and even $8M for a guy who gives you 15 sacks is a steal, and that's what he has given over the last 6 or so years.

This is the precisely the problem with restructuring. This is why you don't try to get bargain basement base salaries by restructuring every year. At some point you've added so much money to later years that the player cannot live up to the cap figure no matter what. He'd probably have to be a 25 sack guy for a team in such a horrid cap position to keep.

Here's why restructuring is flat out stupid.

Age goes on the X axis. Performance goes on the Y axis. In which direction is the line trending? Slope is positive or negative? And the cap number is going in what direction?

You set yourself up to lose. This team has horrid management.

 

[DallasDomination]

Ware was a beast early on but I said it then and I'll say it again. He wasn't all that at stopping the run and he wasn't all that at getting consistent pressure. He got a lot of sacks and that inflated his production and love on these boards. I would of taken Spencer over Ware the last 3 seasons. Could even argue that before he got hurt in 09 he was dominating more than Ware.

 

[Hoofbite]

Bc we could've got a first for him. And he's not worth all this money we will have to pay him. 12.25 mil in 2014. He's not the player that can put us over the top.

Neither is the 1st rounder you'd get for him. And you wouldn't get a 1st for him. You think other teams are that dumb? Al Davis is dead and the Colts already traded their first rounder next year.

I like how players Dallas doesn't want are worth 1st rounders for someone else. Explain that.

Essentially, Dallas has cap-screwed itself into a position where cutting the most productive player over the last decade is widely accepted.

To be quite honest. This team is going nowhere with its currently leadership. I'd rather cut a bunch of players and ensure that Ware retires in the uniform he was drafted into than pretend like 2014 will be different because we BELIEVEEEEEEEEE.......derp, derp, derplieve.

Dallas is screwed because their leadership and coaching sucks. People act like cutting Ware will free up enough money to result in a net positive move. Dallas will lose 3 DL this offseason. What's it going to cost to get a Hatcher-type year from free agency? Spencer? Ware?

Dallas shouldn't cut Ware and anyone who's on board is likely in the same clan that said the salary cap was never a problem in the first place.

Both fools.

 

[Nightman]

Reasonable? $5M and even $8M for a guy who gives you 15 sacks is a steal, and that's what he has given over the last 6 or so years.

This is the precisely the problem with restructuring. This is why you don't try to get bargain basement base salaries by restructuring every year. At some point you've added so much money to later years that the player cannot live up to the cap figure no matter what. He'd probably have to be a 25 sack guy for a team in such a horrid cap position to keep.
Here's why restructuring is flat out stupid.

Age goes on the X axis. Performance goes on the Y axis. In which direction is the line trending? Slope is positive or negative? And the cap number is going in what direction?

You set yourself up to lose. This team has horrid management.

Ware is the perfect example of proper restructuring. His dead money is less than half of his cap hit. It would be beneficial to cut or trade him now that he is declining. He was paid a large signing bonus and decent yearly salaries and earned every dollar, but most of that has been accounted for. Most of his cap number is non-guaranteed base salary that can be dumped at any time or restructured one more time if they want to keep him.

 

[Beast_from_East]

The problem with not having a true GM is that the owner, who is also buddies with the players, develops an attachment to them and their service to the Cowboys and doesn't know when to get rid of them while they have value. The Patriots are good at this; the Cowboys, not so much.
Whether Aikman or Deion or Romo or Witten or Ware, Jerry Jones will not get rid of these players when it's time to make a move. We keep them until they're broken down and have no value.
Yes, this is an admirable trait. But it's not like you're kicking them to the curb without adequate compensation. This isn't corporate America laying off the middle class plunging them into the poor class. This is NFL football where you're letting go millionaries who, if they've invested/handled their money wisely, shouldn't have to work another day in their lives.
Besides, it's the business.
As much as I like Romo, it's time to unload him while we can get something for him. Same with Ware.
I just don't see these two winning a Super Bowl with this franchise. Not that they're not capable, but they just need too many pieces around them (not to mention the right scheme around them) and they're not the type players who can get it done "by themselves" (I use that term not in the sense that any player can do it by himself, but some players, rare players, have that ability to lift even average players, and I don't see the Romo of 2013 or Ware being able to do that).
This team needs to be rebuilt, and that means shipping out the valuable players and getting draft picks for them while we can.
Ware can be had for a second round pick. Romo can be had for a first round pick (Kansas City would likely make that trade in a heart beat).
If we had a business-minded, football-competent GM, this would be a no-brainer. But expect Ware and Romo to rot in Dallas and then be discarded like soiled toilet tissue.

Romo just got $52 million guaranteed on a $108 million dollar contract extension......................he aint going nowhere until he is 40 with that contract................we cant trade him or release him for at least 4 yrs under his new deal without a mega cap hit.

He aint going anywhere bro.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Reasonable? $5M and even $8M for a guy who gives you 15 sacks is a steal, and that's what he has given over the last 6 or so years.

This is the precisely the problem with restructuring. This is why you don't try to get bargain basement base salaries by restructuring every year. At some point you've added so much money to later years that the player cannot live up to the cap figure no matter what. He'd probably have to be a 25 sack guy for a team in such a horrid cap position to keep.

Here's why restructuring is flat out stupid.

Age goes on the X axis. Performance goes on the Y axis. In which direction is the line trending? Slope is positive or negative? And the cap number is going in what direction?

You set yourself up to lose. This team has horrid management.

The salaries went up because this is the back end of the deal. Restructuring is meaningless as to decisions after the fact beyond to say that it is a sunk cost. At this point his SB proration of $60m or whatever his SB was is gone. 2009 through 2013 is 5 years. Those $8m and $5m restructures are mitigated relative to that. If we cut him as a June 1 then we get 1/5 of that $13m this coming year and whatever is left the following. Those two years we don't pay $12m and $17m respectively in salary.

When they make their decision, they make it (or should) on the basis of his $12m salary. Had his salary been $4m next year I think they keep him no matter what. The sunk money is already sunk.

I really do not think that it was a bad deal especially in light of it being injuries that derailed his value. They got thorough more than half the contract and he was fairly compensated for what was clearly his prime. They most recently signed him in 2009 before he was carted off the field. It wasn't bargain basement but instead an equitable deal because Ware has been one of the special talents the franchise has ever had. This is not Ken Hamlin or Roy Williams stealing money.

It's just now I feel it is a smart move to either get him to reduce his salary from tops in the NFL to something more modest, trade him and get something of value or ultimately cut him. This is just the right time to get out from the deal circumstances being what they are. It seems to me the obvious move unless you are concerned more about selling tickets or feel an emotional attachment.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Oh, how quickly a fan base will turn just to save a little money that supposedly never meant anything in the first place.

I am piling on a bit although I have much respect but the difference between his salary and proration this coming year is over $7m. That is two draft classes, several mid-level FA or the like.

I think that the team needs more depth and talent at the heart of the roster ie spots 16-45 and less top end. This is doubly so when the top end is aging and with a degenerative condition.

I have tbh the topic is depressing as hell but it is still there.

 

[BAZ]

Oh, how quickly a fan base will turn just to save a little money that supposedly never meant anything in the first place.

If you love someone set them free, if they come back they're yours. Give him a chance to win a ring on a contender, let he prove he's not done. Do you think having "starter on the worst defense in the history of the NFL" is something he will bring up in his Hall of fame speech?

 

[PJTHEDOORS]

If you love someone set them free, if they come back they're yours. Give him a chance to win a ring on a contender, let he prove he's not done. Do you think having "starter on the worst defense in the history of the NFL" is something he will bring up in his Hall of fame speech?

Sure he is free with or without our love.

 

[Redball Express]

Yes it is sadly time for him to retire it appears... The body will not allow him to be dominant anymore SMH

One of the best Cowboys of all time.

Such a waste for him to have come along at this time for the team.

It could have been better..

much better ..

..had things been handled in a professional manor by this Franchise.

 

[Manster54]

Another great career wasted on the Cowboys with no ring. It's a crying shame.

 

[IrishAnto]

Averaging 6 sacks for 4 or 5 years gets Anthony Spencer the Franchise Tag.

Ware has a bad year with 6 sacks after averaging like 15 sacks for the past 6 years and it's time to get cut.

I'm against cutting Ware because I've repeatedly been told that the cap doesn't matter at all. Not my money, cap doesn't matter......I see no need to even consider cutting him.

Anthony Spencer’s responsibilities in the 3-4 were different to Ware’s so you can’t exactly compare the two.

In addition Spencer got his second tag on the back of 11 sacks.

Finally we didn’t have anybody to replace Spencer (as we can now see) so they did what they had to do.

 

[camelboy]

My problem with Ware even in his hay-days is that he is a quiet, lead-by-example type of player. He rarely (if ever) gets angry, taking it easy most of the time in a win as much as in a loss. When this is your go-to guy on defense who all other players on the defense look up to, this type of demeanor rubs on the whole team and they reflect it on the field.

Remember two years ago when (I believe) Tuck bad mouthed the Cowboys and talked about how much he hates the cowboys, and when Ware was asked his response was what? "He is jealous" , "he wants to be a cowboy" and back then am sure most (if not all) reaction was "Are you kidding me!!!! this is how you respond???"..

Now compare that with Ray Lewis and his fire burns under the whole team when he talks.. To me Ware is RKG but not for leadership role. This D still needs that vocal full of swag "ALWAYS HEALTHY" guy...The closest (and it's not that close to what this D needs) is Hatcher...But I suggest you keep looking...