How much will holdout Zack Martin be fined until he reports to Dallas Cowboys camp?
Martin was not at the official start of camp on Tuesday in Oxnard, Calif.
He was among a number of veterans who did not travel to training camp on the team charter on Monday. Quarterback Dak Prescott, linebacker Micah Parsons, cornerback Trevon Diggs, running back Tony Pollard, receiver CeeDee Lamb and defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence were among the Cowboys who took their own transportation to Oxnard. They were in camp on Tuesday.
Owner Jerry Jones tried to downplay Martin’s absence at the training camp opening press conference on Tuesday.
“It doesn’t affect our plans. I’m just not letting that affect our plans,” Jones said. “I don’t want to get it what we’re doing here or are not doing. I just want to say that he’s in our plans. It’s just something that we don’t need to discuss and I don’t need to discuss for the benefit all of us.”
The first team practice is Wednesday.
Martin is unhappy with his contract because he is not paid what he is worth.
Martin, who has made first team All-Pro in six of his nine seasons with the Cowboys, remains the best at what he does on the team and is still considered the best guard in the NFL.
Martin has two years on his contract and is due $13.5 million in 2023 and $14 million in 2024, significantly less than Atlanta’s Chris Lindstrom, the highest paid guard in the league with an average salary of $20.5 million annually.
The NFL has made it punitive for players to hold out for leverage, thanks for former teammate Ezekiel Elliott, who famously held out of camp in 2019 before signing a six-year, $90 million contract extension.
Per the collective bargaining agreement, signed in 2020, players who hold out of training camp are subjected to fines of $50,000 per day.
Unlike the Elliott situation, those fines can’t be rescinded once the two sides come to terms.
So if Martin misses the first week camp, he would be fined $250,000. The number could swell to more than $1 million if he misses all of camp.
One reason Jones is not worried about the Martin hold out is that “you are right, the rules are different.”
“You have to have agreements that have to really be solid,” Jones said. “You couldn’t maintain a roster if you reshuffle the neck every year. We’ve been years now putting contracts in place. You got to rely on the integrity of your contract.”
By the same token, it would behoove the Cowboys to find some common ground with arguably the team’s best player, especially considering how much they have invested in Prescott and Martin remains the only guarantee up front.
The question is how to get it done.
Martin turns 33 in November and is not long for the NFL.
The Cowboys signed Hall of Fame guard Larry Allen to 6-year, $37 million deal in 2002 at the age of 31.
He was cut in 2005 after making the Pro Bowl for the 10th time in his Cowboys career.
Martin, picked 16th overall in the 2014 NFL Draft, could end up being the most decorated and celebrated offensive line in franchise history. He has made eight Pro Bowls in nine seasons and has been first or second team All-Pro eight times. The Hall of Fame is certainly in his future.
It would be a shame if his Cowboys career ended on a sour note.
“I have such respect and such pride in what he is as a Cowboy,” Jones said. “And he was taken as high as anybody we’ve ever taken in the offensive line. And he’s been that and more since he’s been here.”
This story was originally published July 24, 2023 at 7:44 PM.
