Dallas Cowboys: Demarcus Ware Surgery Puts His Future In Question
The Dallas Cowboys have an important decision coming for the defensive face of their team, Demarcus Ware. The 31 year-old veteran has been an unstoppable force since he was drafted in 2005. But as his health begins to fade and production begins to drop, his future with the team is being called into question.
Demarcus Ware is scheduled to have surgery to repair nerves in his right elbow on February 18th. The Dallas Cowboys have benefited from his presence on the field with Ware amassing 117 sacks in his nine year career. Ware underwent shoulder surgery last offseason and missed three games throughout the course of the 2013 campaign due to other nagging injuries. It was the first time he ever missed a game.
Suffering through the season with a quad injury, back pain, and the ailing elbow, he only managed to take the quarterback down six times. By far a career low. The Dallas Cowboys Pro Bowl defensive end attributed the low production to his pain.
“It’s been killing me,” Ware said. “It’s hurt really bad and that’s why I would wear an elbow pad to stop from getting it hit but that didn’t do much. It would get irritated even when it was barely touched.”
These nagging injuries and an aging Ware have the Cowboys front office afraid to offer him a contract extension. In fact, according to the Dallas CBS affiliate, the conversation is whether to ask him to take a pay cut or potentially even drop the future Hall of Fame defensive end.
The Dallas Cowboys will be on the hook for $16 million this year if they keep Ware at the pay he is currently receiving. Though they have not spoken publicly, that is a high price to pay for such a big question mark. If Ware decides not to take a pay cut, then the Cowboys will have to decide to drop him by June 1st to get the maximum cap benefits.
There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work & learning from failure. – Colin Powell pic.twitter.com/2RUXk4V0DG
— D-Ware (@DeMarcusWare) December 23, 2013
Ware doesn’t believe his playing days are over. He believes he still has something left in the tank.
“My body feels great. Straight up, it feels really, really good. My quad, I can do all of that. I can do everything. Nothing is inhibiting me. If I had to go into the season now, I feel better than I did going into the season with the shoulder… Now I feel like once we get the elbow cleaned up and fix the nerve deal, it’s, ‘Let’s roll.'”
But the big question is, do the Dallas Cowboys believe him?
