Written by theMBIIIeffect
Nobody really noticed when Cowboys GM Jerry Jones was out on the field talking to outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware during yesterday’s warmups before yesterday’s game.
A few folks caught the two walking into the locker room together yesterday, with the two grinning and acting chummy.
In a press conference today, Jones and Ware announced exactly why the two were so happy.
Before yesterday’s 37-21 win over the Falcons, Ware agreed to a 6-year/$78 million dollar contract extension.
The deal, with about $40 million guaranteed, puts Ware up with the top money makers in the league.
“He’s been a star since the first day he walked through the door,” Jones said in a press conference on Monday afternoon. “He’s been a cornerstone of this franchise and will be for a long time.”
Jones even compared Ware to former Cowboys defensive end Charles Haley, who shares Ware’s number.
“We hadn’t seen a player that had his skill on the outside,” Jones said. “He’s exceeded by a nice degree the expectations that we had for him when we drafted him. He’s done everything that you wish for him when you draft a player.”
With the extension, Ware will be a Cowboy through the 2015 season. Ware will be 33 then.
“This is a Cowboy…for the rest of his days,” Jones said.
Ware’s agent, Pat Dye was pleased with the timing of the deal.
Ware avoided the franchise tag and was never out of contract with the Cowboys, both of which “speak volumes about the quality of the organization.”
Dye went on to say that he knew that there would eventually be an agreement on Ware and that they had planned on it for “several years.”
Sitting at Jones’ right hand, Ware was obviously pleased that these contract talks were behind him.
With a slow start to this season (yes, 24 tackles, 4 sacks and 2 forced fumbles is a slow start by Ware’s standards) and a stress fracture in his foot, his new contract took one of Ware’s worries off the table.
“I had a hurt foot, and it took a lot of weight off that foot,” Ware said. “A lot of the weight went away. I put a lot of that behind me and I can give it 110 percent because they’ve just given [me] 110 percent.”
After being asked how he felt about committing the rest of his career to the Cowboys, Ware said he was pleased to stay true to an organization with a tradition as storied as the Cowboys.
“That’s sort of like a dream,” Ware said. “You see the Emmitt Smiths, the Michael Irvins…now you feel like you’re part of that tradition. A tradition of winning, a tradition of good Texas football.”
With Ware squared away, Jones will need to turn his attention, and his checkbook, to wide receiver Miles Austin.
After turning over 400 receiving yards and four touchdowns in the past two weeks, he’ll likely demand much more than the 1 year/$1.5 million deal he’s on now. Given Austin’s track record, his connection with quarterback Tony Romo and Jones’ business savvy, a new deal for Austin might not be that far off.
Tags: DeMarcus Ware, Jerry Jones, Miles Austin, Pat Dye, Tony Romo
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