The Landry Hat
Fansided

5 Cowboys greats who finished their career with a different franchise

By Randy Gurzi

Arizona Cardinals Emmitt Smith (22) breaks away from St. Louis Rams Rich Coady (25) on the way to the endzone for a third qtr. touchdown at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, Missouri, September 12, 2004. St. Louis Rams won the game 17-10. (Photo by Scott Rovak/Getty Images)
Arizona Cardinals Emmitt Smith (22) breaks away from St. Louis Rams Rich Coady (25) on the way to the endzone for a third qtr. touchdown at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, Missouri, September 12, 2004. St. Louis Rams won the game 17-10. (Photo by Scott Rovak/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 5
Next
Cowboys
Oct 30, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware (94) on the sidelines in the fourth quarter against the San Diego Chargers at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The Broncos won 27-19. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports /

2. DeMarcus Ware, Denver Broncos

Most of the players on this list had some success with their second franchise, but none of them went on to do as well for themselves as DeMarcus Ware did when the Cowboys released him following the 2013 season.

Ware’s release was highly controversial since the move was made simply due to salary cap reasons. Rather than trying to figure out a way to keep him (as they have done several times before with star players), they decided to treat him as though he was on the decline following a career low (at the time) six sacks. They also felt he wasn’t as good of a fit in their 4-3 defense as he was in the 3-4, which helped them justify the move to themselves.

The Cowboys all-time sack leader then signed with the Denver Broncos and recorded 10 sacks while making the Pro Bowl in 2014. He followed that up with another Pro Bowl season where he had 7.5 sacks in 10 games. If that wasn’t enough, he also helped them win the Super Bowl following that 2015 season.

Ware played one final season with the Broncos and again missed much of the year. He appeared in just 10 games and had 15 tackles and four sacks, all career-lows for him.

Since retiring he’s worked with both the Broncos and Cowboys at different times, coaching up some of their youngsters on how to get after the quarterback. Clearly, he has no hard feelings but never should have been let go.

Home/Cowboys History