Cowboys right guard Zack Martin has missed 12 training camp practices in a contract holdout. That has amounted to $600,000 in fines the team cannot rescind.
The sides have reached a stalemate: There is no sign Martin plans to report, and the Cowboys appear to have dug in their cleats with no intent to negotiate.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was asked Monday whether he is surprised.
“Surprise is really not the word there,” Jones said, via Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News. “It’s very costly, and so that’s where we are. Huge, significant ramifications happening here by anybody’s measurement financially.”
Martin, who has two years left on his deal, wants more than the $13.5 million he is due to make this season. He is eighth among guards in yearly average at $14 million despite eight Pro Bowls and six All-Pros.
The Cowboys don’t seem inclined to give Martin more money despite his being the best player at his position currently and one of the best of all time along with Larry Allen and John Hannah. Martin wants to be paid at the top of the market, with Atlanta’s Chris Lindstrom ($20.5 million) and Indianapolis’ Quenton Nelson ($20 million).
Training camp has gone on without Martin, with Matt Farniok, Josh Ball and T.J. Bass getting snaps at right guard.
“You realize that not having him here, it could happen on the next play, and you’re not happy,” Jones said, via Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “So you’ve got to put that one on and say, ‘We’ll just move on here without him.’ But you say, ‘Boy, that sounds concerning. No, I’m just trying to give you how you really have to look at it.”
