Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware used the term “put up or shut up” to describe what quarterback Tony Romo needs to do after Jerry Jones handed Romo a contract scheduled to pay him an average of $17 million a year over the next seven years.
Ware said on Sirius XM NFL Radio on Thursday that he thinks every player is deserving of the money he gets paid, but a player with a contract like the one Romo just got has a responsibility to play well to earn all that money.
“I feel like everybody is deserving to whatever is given to him, but at the end of the day, to me it’s put up or shut up,” Ware said, via the Dallas Morning News. “I’m just being straight-up honest with you. Get out there and be productive, and that’s with any player. Whatever they get, they’re deserving of it. You just got to get out there and play and I know he can be and will be the quarterback that is going to be the quarterback that is going to take us to the next level.”
The Cowboys have won one playoff game in Romo’s seven years as their starter. They’ll need to win a lot more than that in the future for Romo’s contract to look like a smart move by Jones.