Cowboys Should Sign Zack Martin Replacement - Idiotic Media Move
FRISCO - From the continuing brilliance of the national media who should increasingly be labeled not "Dallas Cowboys watchers'' but rather "Cowboys Casuals'' comes a fresh idea: Dallas should deal with its present Zack Martin problem by ... replacing him?
"The front office would be wise to explore alternative options in case Martin plays hardball with a holdout,'' writes Heavy.com. "One name to keep an eye on is Commanders free agent guard Trai Turner who brings with him an impressive resume as a five-time Pro Bowler.''
Wait a minute. Back up. There is a viewpoint that suggests that Dallas' conflict with the future Hall of Famer Martin - and it is a conflict - is so horribly problematic that the Cowboys should start preparing for Martin to sit out the entire year in protest?
Let's do facts here: Martin is considering not reporting to the start of training camp in Oxnard next week. He has used Adam Schefter to deliver the message that he feels “woefully underpaid relative to the market.” And CowboysSI.com has reported that the two sides have negotiated, albeit with too little progress, as Martin (with two seasons remaining on a six-year, $84 million deal he signed in 2018) is suddenly slated to make $7 million less than the league’s top guards.
Martin is in fact the seventh-highest-paid guard in the NFL. That's not exactly an "insult'' at $13.5 million. But it's easy to see his side.
At the same time, the Cowboys' position can be a simple one: "A contract is a contract,'' and all of that.
Martin, 32, has been a great player and a good soldier. (We're not sure why ESPN keeps writing that he's a "team captain,'' though. Under coach Mike McCarthy, captains rotate weekly.) This will get resolved ...
But Heavy is encouraging Dallas to sign Trai Turner, who to his credit is a credentialed starter in the NFL. He played 16 games for the Commanders last season, including 12 starts. But ... even a year ago, he was forced to sign just a one-year, $3 million deal. And now he sits on the unwanted free agent shelf - with, by the way, a handful of guys not unlikely him.
But none of them are anything like Martin. If the idea here is to "scare'' Martin? He'd giggle. If the idea is to have some sort of desperation "just-in-case'' insurance? The Cowboys think they already have that on the roster, the "insurance'' being about replacements should they get injured ... not should they opt to forfeit millions of dollars while sitting out long-term.
There are similar stories floating about that suggest "The Five Landing Spots for Zack Martin If He's Traded,'' and this sort of thing. We're not trying to crush anybody's feelings here, but ... Those tales achieve the same level of unreal idiocy as this concept does.
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