After spending the entire offseason trying to get a contract extension done with Zack Martin, the Dallas Cowboys were finally able to seal the deal on Monday.
According to NFL.com, the two sides have agreed to terms on a monstrous six-year extension that will make Martin the highest-paid guard in NFL history. Although the specific terms of the deal haven't been announced yet, the report from NFL.com means that Martin will pass Jacksonville's Andrew Norwell as the highest-paid guard in the NFL. Back in March, Norwell signed a five-year, $66.5 million deal with the Jaguars, which means that Martin will be making at least that much.
If there's one guard in the NFL who's worth nearly $70 million, it's Martin. The 27-year-old has started in every game the Cowboys have played since 2014, when the team made him the 16th overall pick in the NFL Draft, which is saying a lot, because there was a lot of pressure on Martin coming out of that draft.
When the Cowboys were on the clock on 2014, there were a lot of fans out there who wanted the team to take Johnny Manziel. At one point, Jerry Jones even tried to turn in a draft card with Manziel's name on it, before the rest of the team's front office was able to talk him into selecting Martin.
Over the past four years, Martin has started in all 64 regular season games while being voted to four straight Pro Bowls. The right guard has also been named to the AP's All-Pro team in each of his four seasons, getting first-team honors twice and second-team honors twice. Also, Martin was ranked as the second-best guard in the NFL last season by Pro Football Focus.
Getting the deal done on Monday was big for the Cowboys because it means that Martin will now be attending the team's mandatory minicamp, which begins on Tuesday. There had been some speculation that Martin might not show if a deal didn't get done, especially considering that Martin had skipped Cowboys' OTAs earlier this offseason.
In late May, Garrett sounded optimistic that a deal would eventually get done.
"We've had really good conversations about this, he and I have, and I know there's ongoing dialogue between his representatives and the Joneses about it," Garrett said, via ESPN.com. "He's one of the best players we have. He represents everything we want, but there is a business side to this that both sides are working through."
At a luncheon on Monday, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones had said that a deal was close, and he wasn't kidding. Before agreeing to the deal, Martin had been set to play the 2018 season under the final year of his rookie contract, which would have paid him $9.341 million in base salary.
The Martin contract means the Cowboys now have several anchors locked up on their offensive line. Left tackle Tyron Smith, center Travis Frederick and Martin are now all locked up through at least the 2023 season. The team also has La'el Collins signed through 2019 and 2018 second-round pick Connor Williams signed through 2021.