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Zack Martin

NFC Notes: Redskins, Cowboys, Lions, Saints

January 28th, 2017 at 10:48am CST by Ben Levine

Earlier this week, the Redskins promoted Matt Cavanaugh from quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator. Despite Kirk Cousins‘ questionable future with the team, the quarterback was happy that the organization valued continuity on the coaching staff.

“I love the fact that we’re not starting over,” Cousins said (via Jake Kring-Schreifels of Redskins.com). “We’ve learned a certain way of doing things for a couple of years now and with Coach Cav as the coordinator, we’ll be able to keep that rolling, as opposed to having to start all over with a brand new system and terminology and philosophy.”

Cavanaugh had served as the Redskins quarterbacks coach since 2015, and he played an important role in helping Cousins’ production over the past two seasons.

Let’s take a look at some more notes from the NFC…

  • The Cowboys recently exercised the fifth-year option on offensive guard Zack Martin, but both sides are hoping the player’s tenure with the team lasts beyond 2017. Jon Machota of the Dallas News writes that the team is hoping to hammer out a long-term deal with the three-time Pro Bowler, and the 26-year-old echoed that sentiment. “It would be huge,” Martin said. “I’m not real worried about that. I’m worried about playing. Obviously I’ll be here for hopefully a long time. These guys make it fun to come to work every day…Hopefully we can get something done.”
  • The Lions need some talent on the defensive side of the ball, and ESPN.com’s Michael Rothstein believes the team can acquire those types of players via free agency. The writer lists a number of impending free agents who could be intriguing fits for the Lions, including Patriots cornerback Logan Ryan, Rams cornerback T.J. McDonald, Patriots defensive end Jabaal Sheard, Giants defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins, Jaguars defensive tackle Abry Jones, and Jaguars running back Denard Robinson.
  • Lions defensive tackle Tyrunn Walker missed out on a $150K playing time bonus by only seven snaps, writes Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. The five-year veteran was required to play 35-percent of his team’s defensive snaps in order to earn the incentive, but he ended the season having played 34.4-percent of the defense’s snaps. Walker was a healthy scratch during his team’s Week 11 win over the Jaguars, and that decision surely cost the defensive tackle his bonus.
  • Saints general manager Mickey Loomis has a history of trading up in the draft, but the executive told Josh Katzenstein of NOLA.com that he doesn’t have a definitive process when it comes to their draft strategy. “I think it depends on how the board falls,” he said. “You just kind of have to pay attention to the players that are still available for you and what players are below them and how are you going to acquire those players.” The Saints traded up twice in last year’s draft to select second-round safety Vonn Bell and fourth-round defensive tackle David Onyemata.

Cowboys To Exercise Zack Martin’s Fifth-Year Option

January 25th, 2017 at 8:35am CST by Sam Robinson

The Cowboys possess one of the more open-and-shut fifth-year option cases in the league as the 2017 league year approaches. Executive VP Stephen Jones said the team plans to pick up Zack Martin‘s fifth year, via Brandon George of the Dallas Morning News (on Twitter), and categorized it as a “big priority” to keep the All-Pro guard around.

Dallas already has Tyron Smith and Travis Frederick signed to long-term deals, so prioritizing a potential Martin accord makes sense considering how the team is now constructed to win. Now that Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott are the centerpieces of the Cowboys’ offense, a possible Martin extension — which is now an option for 2014 draftees — would make more sense without a franchise-quarterback salary on the payroll. Neither Prescott nor Elliott is extension-eligible until 2019.

Tony Romo‘s league-high cap figure of $24.7MM could be coming off the Cowboys’ books — well, much of it, at least. So, the currently cap-strapped team could move into better position to sign one of its cornerstone performers in the near future. But that might have to wait. For now, Dallas is projected to be more than $8MM over the 2017 cap.

The fifth-year figure for offensive linemen drafted outside of the top 10 in 2014 will likely exceed $9MM. Martin is scheduled to make $2.853MM next season. Like Smith, Martin is a two-time first-team All-Pro. Frederick’s earned that distinction once, so Jones tabbing the 26-year-old right guard as a player that’s going to be part of Dallas’ long-term future seems like a given.

Extra Points: Cowboys, Wilkerson

September 12th, 2015 at 8:07pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Cowboys made the wise decision to select ex-Notre Dame offensive guard Zack Martin 16th overall in the 2014 draft, but they did so against owner Jerry Jones’ wishes, chief operating officer Stephen Jones – Jerry’s son – told David Moore of the Dallas Morning News.

“Let’s go over this quarterback thing one more time,” said Jerry Jones, despite hearing endorsements of Martin from Stephen Jones, senior director of college/pro personnel Will McClay, head coach Jason Garrett and offensive coordinator Scott Linehan.

The Cowboys then tried – and failed – to move down in the draft before settling on Martin.

“Son, if you want to do special things in life, you can’t keep picking and doing things down the middle,” Jerry said to Stephen afterward. “What we just did was down the middle.”

Martin did special things as a rookie, earning Pro Bowl and All-Pro honors. Quarterback Johnny Manziel, whom Dallas could have taken instead of Martin, had a poor first year both on and off the field and enters his second season backing up journeyman Josh McCown in Cleveland.

Here’s more from around the NFL:

  • CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora reported earlier Saturday that the Jets and defensive lineman Muhammad Wilkerson are far apart on contract talks and unlikely to continue negotiating when the season starts Sunday. However, there is not – nor has there ever been – a hard Sunday deadline to get a deal done, according to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News (Twitter link). That means the two sides could still hammer out a long-term extension during the season.
  • Titans head coach Ken Whisenhunt, speaking to SiriusXM NFL Radio (Twitter link), showered praise on rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota. “It was amazing how quickly our team bonded with Mariota. He has a businesslike professional approach. Doesn’t get rattled.” Mariota, the second overall pick in this year’s draft, will square off against the No. 1 selection, Bucs QB Jameis Winston, on Sunday.
  • The Browns won’t improve on their 7-9 record from 2014 without another big year from their defensive backfield, writes Tom Reed of Cleveland.com. The group includes three Pro Bowlers in Joe Haden, Tashaun Gipson and Donte Whitner. Gipson believes he’s part of the best secondary in the league. “Any time you get together this kind of talent nothing bad can go wrong in our eyes,” he said. “If we execute the game plan and play fast I feel there’s no better secondary out than us.”
  • The five-year, $45MM extension the Cowboys signed Tyrone Crawford to Saturday makes the Eagles’ recent four-year, $29MM pact with Mychal Kendricks look better, opines former Eagles and Browns executive Joe Banner. Kendricks’ deal is the best one any team has given out this year, Banner thinks (Twitter link).

Cowboys Notes: Bryant, Murray, Garrett, Manziel

January 7th, 2015 at 5:56pm CST by Zachary Links

Earlier today, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones appeared on ESPN’s NFL Insiders to discuss a wide range of topics. Here’s a look at some of the PFR-relevant highlights..

  • Jones once again mentioned the franchise tag for wide receiver Dez Bryant, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com (on Twitter). The Cowboys owner didn’t say much about DeMarco Murray, however and the return of the star running back seems iffy.
  • Even though he hasn’t been able to work out an extension with coach Jason Garrett, Jones assumes he’ll stay, as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes. Garrett is currently coaching as a lame duck and, apparently, he’ll stay that way until the end of the season. If he continues to wait, however, it’s possible another team will pounce.
  • There was a lot of talk about the Cowboys taking Johnny Manziel at No. 16 in last year’s draft, but owner Jerry Jones is glad he passed. “Really we had Manziel and we had Zack Martin,” Jones told ESPN, according to Michael Florek of The Dallas Morning News. “We really couldn’t have known the quality of the player that Zack Martin is. It’s just been so much more than we could’ve expected and he had a very significant career at Notre Dame. “We certainly needed — I should be looking at the future after Romo. But I decided right there the future after Romo is too far down the road when he won’t be our quarterback to be developing a quarterback like Manziel during these next few years. It just didn’t work time wise, so we had to settle on that pick, Martin, which may be one of the best if not best pick we’ve made around here in the last 15 years.”

NFC East Links: Rolle, Smith, Cowboys, Cofield

November 22nd, 2014 at 8:50pm CST by Rob DiRe

Antrel Rolle is playing in a contract year for the Giants, and while he wants to stay with the team, he knows that anything can happen in an NFL offseason, writes Bob Glauber of Newsday.com.

“Staying here would definitely be ideal,” said Rolle. “I feel like there’s a lot of things that I would like to get accomplished with a new set of [teammates]. I feel like there’s a lot more to get done. Unfortunately, if you don’t have the opportunity to stay, you move on.”

The 32-year-old safety has been a stalwart of the Giants’ defense since coming over from Arizona in 2010.

Here are some other links from around the NFC East:

  • Eagles‘ first-round pick Marcus Smith has struggled to see the field as a rookie, but the team worries if he will ever develop into the player they had hoped when they drafted him, writes Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Smith has been compared to Danny Watkins, another failed first-round selection.
  • Cowboys‘ head coach Jason Garrett has been thought of as a puppet for Jerry Jones, but Jean-Jacques Taylor of ESPNDallas.com thinks Garrett has wielded more power within the organization recently. He cites the team drafting Zack Martin, letting DeMarcus Ware and Jason Hatcher leave in free agency, and holding off on extensions for Dez Bryant and DeMarco Murray as all uncharacteristic moves for Jones, likely influenced by Garrett.
  • Martin has been excellent as a rookie, validating the Cowboys‘ decision not to draft Johnny Manziel. However, if the Browns decide to sign Hoyer to a long-term contract, Manziel could still be a fit for the Cowboys, writes Steven Mullenax of The LandryHat.com. With the struggles of Brandon Weeden and Tony Romo‘s injury issues, Manziel could be a good backup and eventual replacement in Dallas.
  • Given the choice between Adrian Peterson, Marshawn Lynch, or Murray this offseason, Jon Machota of DallasNews.com believes the Cowboys should place Peterson at the top of their wish list. He believes that signing Peterson behind this offensive line would be more dangerous even than the younger DeMarco Murray.
  • Washington defensive lineman Barry Cofield eased his way back into action last week against the Buccaneers, after returning from injury. Cofield should see his snaps increase starting this week, reports Tom Schad of the Washington Times.
  • Washington defensive coordinator Jim Haslett has been in charge of an erratic defense during his tenure with the team, but despite scheme changes and coaching changes, he has survived, writes Mike Jones of the Washington Post. Jones paints the major problem in the consistency of the defense as a lack of talent on that side of the ball.
  • As the controversy with the Washington team name carries on, one devoted fan has decided to take a stand against the name, writes John Woodrow Cox of the Washington Post. He found a company to make strips of cloth that say “Washington” in which fans can use to patch over their old team apparel. Daniel Brown of the San Jose Mercury News points to the name change for the University of Stanford as a precedent for the change, and the New Yorker has used their cover to mock the name in anticipation of Thanksgiving, according to Sports Illustrated.

Ronald Leary Won’t Be Suspended

June 27th, 2014 at 10:05am CST by Matt Feminis

Cowboys guard Ronald Leary will not be suspended for his 2012 DWI arrest, reports ESPN’s Calvin Watkins.

According to court documents, Leary was arrested days after the team’s 2012 season opener at the New York Giants, but it’s taken nearly two years for him to face trial (scheduled for July 14, per the Dallas Morning News). In terms of discipline from the NFL, Watkins explains, “When an NFL player is charged with a DWI offense, he’s placed into the league’s substance abuse program. Once that player completes the program, the league considers the legal matter over based on the facts of any particular case.”

Leary, 25, went undrafted out of Memphis in 2012, in part because of a knee issue that scared teams off. However, he was considered a mid-round prospect with eventual starter potential, and the Cowboys secured his services with an enticing offer. After spending 2012 on the practice squad, Leary started all 16 games at left guard last season. He struggled, though, failing to establish himself as a long-term answer, and with rookie first-rounder Zack Martin expected to take over right guard, Leary will compete with Mackenzy Bernadeau for the left guard spot.

Cowboys Sign Zack Martin

June 16th, 2014 at 1:06pm CST by Luke Adams

The Cowboys have signed first-round pick Zack Martin to his rookie contract, according to Todd Archer of ESPNDallas.com. Now that they’ve locked up the offensive tackle, Dallas has just one unsigned draftee remaining — second-round edge defender Demarcus Lawrence.

Martin, the 16th overall pick, was something of a surprise selection last month, since Tyron Smith is locked in at left tackle in Dallas, and many observers believed the Cowboys would either select a defender or opt for the splashier pick in Johnny Manziel. Martin was considered one of the top offensive linemen in the draft, and ended up being the fourth tackle off the board, behind Greg Robinson, Jake Matthews, and Taylor Lewan.

Per Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap, Martin will be in line for a signing bonus of $4.842MM, with an overall four-year value of nearly $9MM. As is the case with all of this year’s first-round picks, Martin will also have a fifth-year option on his deal, which the Cowboys will have the opportunity to exercise to keep him under contract for the 2018 season.

Now that Martin has signed, only 16 draftees have yet to put pen to paper, including six other first-rounders.

Extra Points: Contracts, Vikings, Football In LA

May 25th, 2014 at 12:45pm CST by Rory Parks

In his weekly Sunday column, Ben Volin of the Boston Globe describes an interesting phenomenon regarding “offset language.” Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill was the first top-10 pick to have offset language put into his contract, language that allows a team to avoid paying the full balance of a player’s salary if the player is cut and signed by another team. Since the 2011 CBA essentially reduced all rookie contracts to little more than boilerplate, Volin notes that the issue of offset language is one of the few negotiating points left.

In exchange for the salary offset, the Dolphins converted half of Tannehill’s base salary into bonus money, and eight of the top 12 draft picks in last year’s draft had similar language inserted into their deals. Of the top picks in the 2014 class that have already signed, only Raiders‘ LB Khalil Mack and Falcons‘ OT Jake Matthews have offset provisions in their contracts, but more are sure to come. For your edification, ESPN’s Field Yates tweets a complete definition of the term “contract offsets.”

Now let’s have a look at some notes from around the league:

  • Chargers GM Tom Telesco held an online chat with fans earlier this week, and a couple of interesting tidbits came out of it. For instance, Telesco addresses his team’s relatively conservative approach to free agency this season and writes that this year was more about re-signing core players than making a splash with players from other clubs.
  • Albert Breer of the NFL Network touched on a couple of rookie storylines in a brief segment on the network’s Total Access program, noting that the Rams plan to start first-round pick Greg Robinson at left guard in his rookie season–much like the Ravens did with Hall-of-Fame LT Jonathan Ogden in Ogden’s rookie year–and the Cowboys will start Zack Martin at right guard.
  • Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch lists 10 reasons as to why Sam Bradford remains the Rams’ best option under center.
  • Breer also tweets that the Vikings will allow Christian Ponder, Matt Cassel, and Teddy Bridegwater to get reps with the first team in the offseason, but they would like to go into training camp with an established depth chart.
  • Tim Graham of the Buffalo News writes that, although Bills fans have been worried about the team’s potential relocation to Los Angeles for years, neither the Bills nor any other club in the league will be heading to Hollywood anytime soon. According to Graham, there are just too many political, social, and historical obstacles for Los Angeles to land an NFL team in the foreseeable future.
  • Citing a league source, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes that a new league policy concerning DUI infractions is on the horizon. Once the league and the players’ union iron out the last few details surrounding HGH testing, the NFL will implement the policy, which would impose a one-game suspension and fine for a first DUI offense. Currently, the league punishes first-time DUI offenders with a two-game fine; a suspension is not typically imposed until a player is convicted of a second DUI.
  • Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune tweets that Mike Glennon definitely has a chance at starting for the Buccaneers this year, and will get his opportunity should Josh McCown get hurt or falter.

NFC East Notes: Spencer, Martin, Smith, Moore

May 17th, 2014 at 11:28am CST by Matt Feminis

Cowboys veteran defensive end Anthony Spencer, recovering from microfracture surgery, will most likely start the season on the physically unable to perform list, projects ESPNDallas.com’s Calvin Watkins.

Here’s a handful more NFC East notes:

  • Cowboys first-rounder Zack Martin, praised for his consistency and versatility, is working at right guard during rookie minicamp, and head coach Jason Garrett thinks it’s a natural fit, writes Rainer Sabin of the Dallas Morning News. Meanwhile, Martin has already sought out the help of veterans, and he told Carlos Mendez of the Star-Telegram that Doug Free “is like another coach on the field.”
  • “Most first-round edge rushers make mild contributions, or almost none at all, in their first year,” says the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane, who writes the Eagles are prepared to be patient with first-rounder Marcus Smith if he doesn’t make an immediate impact.
  • Speaking with Les Bowen on Sulia.com, Eagles seventh-rounder Beau Allen said his predraft interview with the team was more formal and organized than other teams’.
  • Though defensive end was viewed as a need, the Giants did not spend a draft choice on the position, which shows some faith in second-year man Damontre Moore, writes Conor Orr in the Star-Ledger. Recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, Moore hasn’t been cleared for contact yet, but says he’s 95 percent and working towards bulking up 15 pounds.

NFC East Notes: Brown, Graham, Hart, Martin

May 10th, 2014 at 2:06pm CST by Rob DiRe

The Eagles have been fielding calls from the Bills about tailback Bryce Brown for a while, reports Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network and Jeff McClaine of the Philadelphia Inquirer (via Twitter). The team finally moved Brown to the Bills in exchange for a conditional future pick.

Here are some other draft weekend notes from the NFC East:

  • Eagles’ head coach Chip Kelly said he does not expect any other players on the roster to be traded during the draft, reports Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Daily News (via Twitter). That could be good news for Brandon Graham, who was thought to be on the trade block this weekend.
  • Kelly wanted the Eagles to take Oregon defensive end Taylor Hart with the first pick in round four, reports the team insider of PhiladelphiaEagles.com (via Twitter). The team’s general manager Howie Roseman proved to be a smart draft manager, saying he would still be available when they selected at the top of the fifth round.
  • The Cowboys almost missed their top draft pick Zack Martin of Notre Dame, as a coin flip gave them No. 16, one spot ahead of the Ravens. The Rams were in talks to exchange picks with the Ravens in order to jump up to No. 17 to select Martin, reports Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. Knowing that Johnny Manziel was near the top of the Cowboys’ board when the team selected, Florio writes that if Martin was not on the board, the team might have been more inclined to take the Texas A&M quarterback.
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