Agree you have a friction problem with your current setup....what you propose is for 200 hp more or less sized engines.
Disconnect the cables center pin connecting arm (bolt) from the engine at the front of the engine. Test movement of the remote control and separately test the movement of the engine. One of the two will probably indicate binding. If the engine, on the Port side of the mid section of the engine, is/should be an orifice, may look like a grease zerk but a "port" made to lubricate the transom bracket to engine connecting tube. This port was designed to use the Mercury tube 2-4-2 I think is the name of it, tube of teflon impregnated marine (blue/black) Mercury/Quicksilver marine semi-grease lubricant with a pump style adapter. One could take the adapter off the end of a rigid tube grease gun with the ⅛" outlet tube, put the end of the tube on the port and pump away, rotating the engine back and forth as you fill the hole.....till you see grease emitting from the top or bottom of the pivoting interface of the engine and transom bracket interface.
On the cable, lube the cable....note, if the cable was kinked whereby the center conductor is now kinked, you cannot straighten that out....replacement will be required. if corrosion is your problem, lube maybe or maybe not can fix it. Otherwise a new cable is in order. If a Teleflex brand cable, near the end of the cable, on one or the other end, embossed in the black plastic sleeve, is the part number of the cable stamped in white.
Last, if you think you have a bad cable and to replace it would require removal and disassembly of the remote control, go ahead and remove the control and the cable and while there, check to see if the control itself is what is binding and lube it up and test the cable while you are at it with the cable disconnected at both ends.
Somewhere in this you will find your smoking gun!