When the Dallas Cowboys officially report for training camp next week, they could be doing so without one of their better players. As per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, six-time first-team All-Pro guard and team captain Zack Martin is considering making a major move against the team because of a contract dispute.
Schefter reports that Martin is considering not reporting to training camp due to his unhappiness with his contract and the Cowboys’ perceived lack of interest in restructuring it. According to Schefter, Martin believes he is “woefully underpaid relative to the market.”
Back in 2018, the Cowboys made Martin the highest-paid guard in the league at the time. He signed a six-year, $84 million contract extension with the Cowboys, which included a $20 million signing bonus, $40 million guaranteed and an average annual salary of $14 million.
In 2023, Martin will earn a base salary of $1.7 million and a restructure bonus of $11.8 million, while carrying a cap hit of $11.4 million. According to Schefter, Martin is scheduled to make about $7 million less this season than the NFL’s top-paid guards.
The market has changed in five years and Martin wants to be properly compensated. He’s the backbone of the team’s offensive line and has been a consistent presence upfront for Dallas since he was drafted in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft. Martin was a first-team All-Pro and received a Pro Bowl nod as recently as last season. He’s a highly decorated offensive lineman, who was even named to the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team.
If the Cowboys don’t meet his demands, this could get ugly for Dallas. Especially when considering that CeeDee Lamb, Trevon Diggs and Terence Steele are all due for contract extensions. It remains to be seen what Dallas ultimately decides to do with Martin, but one thing for certain is that Jerry Jones has his work cut out for him.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.