DeMarcus Ware: Ex-Cowboy?

He’s a good guy.

He’s been a great, Ring of Honor player.

He’s … Oh, who am I kidding? There’s no way the Cowboys bring back DeMarcus Ware in 2014.

Is there?

It’s the team’s most important off-season decision. Yes, even bigger than whom they draft in the first round in May. Ware has been a star for a decade, but in the end he’s deteriorated into a drastically declining, overpaid player who has been part of a nucleus that has greatly underachieved.

In the past, owner Jerry Jones handcuffed his organization by being too loyal to aging veterans. Now – in the wake of 8-8, 8-8, 8-8 – it’s time for him to be more pragmatic than sentimental. Ware shouldn’t be a Cowboy next season.

Here’s why.

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The Cowboys are about $20 million over the NFL salary cap, and they can’t afford to have Ware count $16 million against it. Cutting him would save $7.5 million, but also send a message that the days of hanging on to players past their prime are over. While it will help Dallas in its checkbook, but I’m not so sure releasing the defensive end will hurt them on the field.

Last year he struggled with injuries to his neck, back, elbow and thigh, and was a total non-factor in the season’s final eight games. The images you have of Ware being a destructive force in opponents’ backfield are just fading memories.

Ware picked off Eli Manning on the first play of the 2013 season.

Turns out his first play was also his last play. And his time with the Cowboys should be over.

A native Texan who was born in Duncanville and graduated from UT-Arlington, Richie Whitt has been a mainstay in the Metroplex media since 1986. He’s held prominent roles on all media platforms including newspaper (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Observer), radio (105.3 The Fan) and TV (co-host on TXA 21 and numerous guest appearances, including NBC 5). He currently writes a sports/guy stuff blog at DFWSportatorium.com and lives in McKinney with his wife, Sybil, and two very spoiled dogs.

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