Schefter: Zack Martin Unhappy with Contract; Considering Not Reporting to Camp

[Rayman70]

Zack Martin doesn't want $2 million more a year. He wants top position pay ($20 million)/year.

and that is the issue exactly;

 

[blueblood70]

and that is the issue exactly;

IM sure they can come to a middle ground somewhere, martin's a high integrity guy and i believe he won't sit out the year. he wil be here game 1 new deal or not...

 

[DuncanIso]

I think you have to carry those dummy year cap hits on those specific years. So if Martin plays out in 2024 and then isn't resigned, the Cowboys have to carry those dummy charges in 2025/26. But I could be wrong.

Yeah. It’s all cap math.

Look at the base salary. Any signing bonus was already paid and gets spread out.

He’s getting this years base + 2024.

He’s UFA after 24.

His moneys not right.

He can afford to sit 2023 if they don’t fix it.

 

[Vanilla2]

I’m blaming you are Madden..

Went straight to his head lol

 

[Sage3030]

Is there an example of an NFL franchise violating the terms of a player contract and the NFLPA not stepping in thereby allowing it to happen?

I say they don’t honor them. Sign some one for 5 years then cut them after 3? Yeah they didn’t honor the contract they agreed to. Just like with Zeke, Demarcus Ware, and many others.

 

[Sage3030]

Don't understand your point. Zeke & his agent left the bargaining table knowing what he was likely to pocket over the course of the contract regardless of the "terms" released to the public. If he'd got hurt the first practice rep after signing the contract, would they have offered to prorate the money guaranteed?

I think you’re missing my point entirely. Teams do not honor contracts all the time, typically multiple times a year. Because of that, there’s no reason for the players to do the same.

 

[Jarntt]

Well if they are not interested in discussing the contract with them are they considering letting him go instead of taking that 13 mill base salary - That is what he is likely concerned about.

No. Absolutely, positively, no they are not

 

[McKDaddy]

I think you’re missing my point entirely. Teams do not honor contracts all the time, typically multiple times a year. Because of that, there’s no reason for the players to do the same.

The contract gives teams some options to end the deal, but it doesn't give them the right to walk away from owed money nor does it wipe clean the cap affects. So, the team is honoring the contract. That is where I think you are missing the point.

 

[Rayman70]

IM sure they can come to a middle ground somewhere, martin's a high integrity guy and i believe he won't sit out the year. he wil be here game 1 new deal or not...

I agree. BUT as great as he has been, this idea that he is irreplaceable is a farce. It behooves the team to find a viable guy that can fill in just in case. We can win without him, but its not my preference. This is a business. In business, contingencies must be placed.

 

[Sage3030]

The contract gives teams some options to end the deal, but it doesn't give them the right to walk away from owed money nor does it wipe clean the cap affects. So, the team is honoring the contract. That is where I think you are missing the point.

So zeke had two years left on his deal. No guaranteed money left. The deal he signed would have had him earn that last two years of money as he was under contract for those two years. He was cut. He will not see that money, ever. The Cowboys did not honor the contract. It happens every year. In fact we discuss amongst ourselves who the cowboys should not honor their contract with so we can have better cap numbers or a different player. We actively promote the cowboys not honoring their contracts at times.

With that in mind, I think players should do the same. Do not honor the contract if you don’t want to, as your employer probably won’t either, and certainly haven’t when it comes to other players.

 

[Rayman70]

I don't blame Zack. He realizes he is 33 and wants that bag. He has earned it. I just think reworking his existing deal makes better sense.

 

[JoeKing]

He’s only making 1.7 mil in 2023.

He signed the contract.

 

[McKDaddy]

So zeke had two years left on his deal. No guaranteed money left. The deal he signed would have had him earn that last two years of money as he was under contract for those two years. He was cut. He will not see that money, ever. The Cowboys did not honor the contract. It happens every year. In fact we discuss amongst ourselves who the cowboys should not honor their contract with so we can have better cap numbers or a different player. We actively promote the cowboys not honoring their contracts at times.

With that in mind, I think players should do the same. Do not honor the contract if you don’t want to, as your employer probably won’t either, and certainly haven’t when it comes to other players.

The contract was clear on what could and couldn't be done. The team did not violate the contract. They simply chose to exercise an option within the contract that everyone knew they had. He was paid for all services rendered up until that point.

He is now free to earn whatever money he can wherever he can. If he had market value remaining, he would be giddy from a financial perspective. Unfortunately, his market value isn't great but that has nothing to do with the contract in question.

Players do sometimes have the contractual right to remain in a contract or to opt out early. When they opt out, it is no different than this. Neither scenario should be framed as "not honoring the contract".

 

[AbeBeta]

They did. Made him the highest paid guard in 2018, as he wanted. Gave him a six-year deal, as he wanted.

Now he's changed his mind. Whose fault is that?

He gave the team 2 extra years to help manage the cap. He could have insisted on a shorter deal like many players do but trusted the team to take care of him if he continued to play at a high level. Do you even follow the NFL? This isn't unique

 

[Rayman70]

The contract was clear on what could and couldn't be done. The team did not violate the contract. They simply chose to exercise an option within the contract that everyone knew they had. He was paid for all services rendered up until that point.

He is now free to earn whatever money he can wherever he can. If he had market value remaining, he would be giddy from a financial perspective. Unfortunately, his market value isn't great but that has nothing to do with the contract in question.

Players do sometimes have the contractual right to remain in a contract or to opt out early. When they opt out, it is no different than this. Neither scenario should be framed as "not honoring the contract".

Hes looking around at others getting deals while he isnt getting a sniff. I think THAT and he realizes he is 33 and coming up on his last deal.

 

[mattjames2010]

He signed the contract.

And he'll sign another one shortly because of this.

 

[mattjames2010]

The contract was clear on what could and couldn't be done. The team did not violate the contract. They simply chose to exercise an option within the contract that everyone knew they had. He was paid for all services rendered up until that point.

He is now free to earn whatever money he can wherever he can. If he had market value remaining, he would be giddy from a financial perspective. Unfortunately, his market value isn't great but that has nothing to do with the contract in question.

Players do sometimes have the contractual right to remain in a contract or to opt out early. When they opt out, it is no different than this. Neither scenario should be framed as "not honoring the contract".

He didn't say it was violated. He's saying owners do not have to honor a contract, because they don't.

 

[CTcowboy203]

Big difference from

Man some of you guys don't read I've already explained this has nothing to do with zeke his contract was different first of all he's a running back he was on his rookie contract and he was looking to get paid because he knew it was his only opportunity he would ever have to get a contract like that whereas isn't this Zach Martin's at least end of his second contract if not it's third it's not the same at all it's a completely different zip code..

You can keep spouting off stuff that happened in the past this isn't the past this is the way in the future from those dudes and by the way lady on bell already admitted he made a mistake and he did not get more money he got less than the contract that the Pittsburgh Steelers had offered him Andy lost the money from the year he sat out so let's not bring that in here because that's a giant plus for the other side of the argument here how many players are in the NFL and you can only bring up five it's not normal it's not the best way to go about it and they're not all the same some of those dudes were on their first contracts looking to get paid because they way outplayed their rookie deals or the small deals that they were on Zack Martin is not on a small deal he is paid like the top four I believe he's 4th in right guard money and he's 8th overall in garden money in the NFL that is not the same as those other dudes you're spitting off same with DK Metcalf pretty sure he was on a rookie deal..

This is a 32 year old man at least toward the end of his second contract I don't keep up but could be his third contract this is nowhere near in the same argument... Yes vets sit out camp a lot, they don't even practice much or play PS games sop the holdout threats hold no water until the regular season games..

none of these are the same debate but good try though
thanks for playing....

You said holdouts don’t work…they do. You said explicitly holdouts don’t work. You got played. You cherry pick zeke but there’s other examples I listed but that also discounts the fact that zekes holdout did work. You are clearly wrong and besides the actually examples I stated what further proves your wrong is that martins camp and his agent have threatened a hold out….why? Because they never work?

No, because it’s a tactic that’s been used countless times and has had success despite what you say. If they didn’t think there was a chance it could have succes there are several other avenues that could have been pursued and it wouldn’t be something they use.
You are clueless.

 

[blueblood70]

Big difference from

You said holdouts don’t work…they do. You said explicitly holdouts don’t work. You got played. You cherry pick zeke but there’s other examples I listed but that also discounts the fact that zekes holdout did work. You are clearly wrong and besides the actually examples I stated what further proves your wrong is that martins camp and his agent have threatened a hold out….why? Because they never work?

No, because it’s a tactic that’s been used countless times and has had success despite what you say. If they didn’t think there was a chance it could have succes there are several other avenues that could have been pursued and it wouldn’t be something they use.
You are clueless.

Most dont, again not many examples to prove that it rare so again my statement holds true.. Most of those examples you tried to throw down, they got less money than they were offered before they decided to hold out and they lost the money for the year or the time they held out.. And now back to today in more recent history they don't typically work. They might get them off the team it might get them a new deal but it's rare and it's rare that they're going to make more money on their next stop especially trying to make up for the huge money that they lose white lady on bell yeah he got a deal you keep saying that he lost money he lost money from the sitting out and he did not get the money he was looking for and he already admitted he should have stayed not because of loyalty he literally never made-up the money...

For example, right now Saquan Barclays turned down $14 million a year long term deal he hasn't signed his $10 million franchise tag... So if he does hold out the year he's losing what $10 million so then if they allow them to walk in the offseason and he gets a new deal and what if it's for only $13 million a year now how long does he have to play in order to make up the $10 million that he lost sitting out and the fact that the $1,000,000 a year he gave up or even if he gets the same offer at 14 million but look at the running back situation, if he thinks he's going to get a bigger deal than he's already been offered he needs to look around because he's going to be the new Lbell.

All I'm saying is it's rare you're never going to get the money back you're always going to be chasing the money you left on the table.

And all this Martin talk to man was paid up front almost all in bonuses from all the restructures so now he's upset because he's making under $2 million a year base salary but he already took the money he was paid ahead of time he's not as underpaid as people might wanna think therefore if he's looking for Max dollars on a new deal he's probably not gonna get it not the 20 to 25 million that some of these dudes have somehow hijacked from their teams who have now learned a lesson. He's 32 years old already signed a couple of contracts this is not the same situation as some of these young guys they're holding out after year three or upset they're not getting the offers for their first big contract that they want it's completely different and he counts like $18 million under our cap right now this year.

I'm all for finding a middle ground a nice resolution because I like Zach Martin I believe it with integrity he's not going to hold out during the regular season and that's the only way a holdout is gonna even work at all is doing with Emmett Smith did prove that you're serious because holding out in training camp or the preseason means nothing because most veterans are not getting that many touches anyway.

So let's talk about the week leading up to game one and see where this goes right now it means nothing absolutely nothing.....

 

[HungryLion]

Zack Martin doesn't want $2 million more a year. He wants top position pay ($20 million)/year.

I’m sure he is asking for 20. It’s a negotiation

You don’t start out asking for less than you’re willing to take. You ask for more than you’re willing to take.