Cowboys All-Pro guard Zack Martin was holding out, but after Jerry Jones took one look at a preseason game, he paid the man his money.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has been trying to play the role of a savvy businessman for weeks now when it comes to All-Pro offensive guard Zack Martin. However, the majority of the fan base was simply wanting him to play the role of Teddy KGB and "pay that man his money".
On Monday, just two days after the preseason opener for the Cowboys, a 28-23 loss to the Jaguars, that's exactly what Jerry and the organization did.
As reported by ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Cowboys have agreed to a reworked contract with Martin, giving him a total of an $8.5 million pay raise over the next two seasons and fully guaranteeing both years on the deal.
Zack Martin contract details: Cowboys pay up for All-Pro guard
Zack Martin was initially going to make $13.5 million in 2023 and $14 million in the 2024 season from the Cowboys. Under the reworked contract, he'll make more than $18 million per season over the next two years with, as mentioned, both years being fully guaranteed.
The timing of the deal probably isn't coincidental.
Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy isn't playing his starters in the preseason and, as such, we saw the backup offensive line on the field against Jacksonville. That went disastrously as the entirety of the unit struggled mightily. Dallas had to see that and feel immediate concern about not having Martin on the field to protect Dak Prescott.
But now that's no longer a concern. Martin has been one of the premier protectors in the NFL for quite a while now, one who was signed to a record-setting deal for a guard a few years ago, but that number had since been passed, hence his holdout for a new deal.
Getting him back in the fray will stabilize this unit in a massive way. It was the natural conclusion to this, and it just took Jerry Jones seeing the backups to light a bit of a fire under him to get the deal done.
