An extension for Cowboys guard Zack Martin has seemed like a foregone conclusion for several months, but executive vice president Stephen Jones revealed Tuesday that negotiations between the two sides haven’t been easy. The parties are “deep in talks” at the moment, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, though a deal isn’t imminent (Twitter link).
With Tom Condon serving as his representative, the 26-year-old Martin has the same agent as the highest-paid guard in the league, the Browns’ Kevin Zeitler, who left Cincinnati for Cleveland’s five-year, $60MM offer in free agency. Martin would like to surpass that mark, Rapoport suggests, which explains why Jones believes that contract talks have been tough. While Martin has been an elite guard during his three years in the league, the Cowboys still own his rights for another two seasons. They’re not competing against other teams to keep him, then, whereas the Browns had to outdo various clubs’ offers to secure the 27-year-old Zeitler.
Martin is due to make a relative pittance in 2017 – $1.64MM – and scheduled to rake in $9.34MM next season as a fifth-year option player. That’s a high figure, of course, but it’s a good deal less than the $12MM per year for which he’s aiming. Nevertheless, the expectation is that the Cowboys will lock him up at some point.
Since Dallas chose Martin 16th overall in 2014, the ex-Notre Dame standout has started 48 straight regular-season games. Martin has combined durability with excellence along the way, having earned three Pro Bowl berths in as many years and a pair of first-team All-Pro nods. He finished as Pro Football Focus’ second-best guard last year, beating out the seventh-ranked Zeitler, and a key piece of PFF’s No. 2 overall O-line.