DeMarcus Ware Gets Contract Extension
DeMarcus Ware Gets Contract Extension 02:24 PM CDT on Monday, October 26, 2009
By TODD ARCHER / The Dallas Morning News
tarcher@dallasnews.com
IRVING – It might have taken some time, but DeMarcus Ware and the Dallas Cowboys have come to terms on a contract extension.
Ware will be signed through 2015, and the contract calls for $40 million guaranteed. The Cowboys have a press conference scheduled for 4:30 today at Valley Ranch.
At 27, Ware is entering the prime of his career and has recorded four sacks in his last two games. A first-round pick in 2005, he has 57.5 sacks in his career and has been named to the Pro Bowl in each of the last three seasons.
Ware led the NFL with 20 sacks in 2008, becoming just the sixth player since sacks became an official stat in 1982 to reach that mark in a season. He also shares the NFL record with Simon Fletcher for consecutive games with a sack with 10 and he holds three of the top-five sack seasons in franchise history.
Without an extension of the collective bargaining agreement, Ware was scheduled to be a restricted free agent after this season.
In the off-season, Washington signed defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth to a seven-year, $100 million deal with $40 million guaranteed. Baltimore outside linebacker Terrell Suggs signed a six-year, $62.5 million deal with $38.1 million guaranteed and Pittsburgh inked James Harrison, who beat out Ware for the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award last season, to a six-year, $51 million deal with $20 million guaranteed.
Ware’s contract falls in line with what owner and general manager Jerry Jones has done in the past, taking care of younger players before they can hit free agency. He has done it with Tony Romo, Bradie James, Jason Witten, Jay Ratliff, Terence Newman and Andre Gurode.
By TODD ARCHER / The Dallas Morning News
tarcher@dallasnews.com
IRVING – It might have taken some time, but DeMarcus Ware and the Dallas Cowboys have come to terms on a contract extension.
Ware will be signed through 2015, and the contract calls for $40 million guaranteed. The Cowboys have a press conference scheduled for 4:30 today at Valley Ranch.
At 27, Ware is entering the prime of his career and has recorded four sacks in his last two games. A first-round pick in 2005, he has 57.5 sacks in his career and has been named to the Pro Bowl in each of the last three seasons.
Ware led the NFL with 20 sacks in 2008, becoming just the sixth player since sacks became an official stat in 1982 to reach that mark in a season. He also shares the NFL record with Simon Fletcher for consecutive games with a sack with 10 and he holds three of the top-five sack seasons in franchise history.
Without an extension of the collective bargaining agreement, Ware was scheduled to be a restricted free agent after this season.
In the off-season, Washington signed defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth to a seven-year, $100 million deal with $40 million guaranteed. Baltimore outside linebacker Terrell Suggs signed a six-year, $62.5 million deal with $38.1 million guaranteed and Pittsburgh inked James Harrison, who beat out Ware for the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award last season, to a six-year, $51 million deal with $20 million guaranteed.
Ware’s contract falls in line with what owner and general manager Jerry Jones has done in the past, taking care of younger players before they can hit free agency. He has done it with Tony Romo, Bradie James, Jason Witten, Jay Ratliff, Terence Newman and Andre Gurode.
