Verdict
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Zac Martin is arguably the best over all guard in the NFL. He is an all pro caliber player. Wanting to keep him around is a no brainer.
Having said the foregoing whether we should resign him is a function of cost. You can't afford to pay him $20 million dollars per year to stick around.
I would like to see Martin extended at an average of the top 5 players at his position, but that wont happen. If we resign him it will be for a monster contract. If we let him go there will be a monster sized hole where he used to be. Not only that, but it will take draft capital to fill the position, so signing him is preferrable.
On the other hand we can't pull a Dez and over pay him just because he is great. At some point the cost becomes "too much" and it is better to move on from the player. Good teams make tough choices.
If we can't extend Martin for a reasonable amount of money, then we could do a franchise tag on him and trade him. He would likely net a first round pick and possibly more. He is one of the players who teams would actually want and pay us accordingly.
If we took the first round pick we got for him you could use it to draft his replacement (if we decided to do that) or use it to move up in the draft for an impact player. You could probably get a very good player to play guard for a lot less than the cap hit that Martin would command. The player would likely not be as good as Martin, (at least in the short term) but the labor cost would be MUCH smaller and you would own that player for 5 years.
For instance you could use the pick to draft Martin's replacement, draft Dez' replacement, cut Dez, cut Witten, and move forward with substantially more cap room to make a move. I'm not advocating that, I'm just saying, at some point the salary gets to be too much, regardless if it is a market value deal or not.
Having said the foregoing whether we should resign him is a function of cost. You can't afford to pay him $20 million dollars per year to stick around.
I would like to see Martin extended at an average of the top 5 players at his position, but that wont happen. If we resign him it will be for a monster contract. If we let him go there will be a monster sized hole where he used to be. Not only that, but it will take draft capital to fill the position, so signing him is preferrable.
On the other hand we can't pull a Dez and over pay him just because he is great. At some point the cost becomes "too much" and it is better to move on from the player. Good teams make tough choices.
If we can't extend Martin for a reasonable amount of money, then we could do a franchise tag on him and trade him. He would likely net a first round pick and possibly more. He is one of the players who teams would actually want and pay us accordingly.
If we took the first round pick we got for him you could use it to draft his replacement (if we decided to do that) or use it to move up in the draft for an impact player. You could probably get a very good player to play guard for a lot less than the cap hit that Martin would command. The player would likely not be as good as Martin, (at least in the short term) but the labor cost would be MUCH smaller and you would own that player for 5 years.
For instance you could use the pick to draft Martin's replacement, draft Dez' replacement, cut Dez, cut Witten, and move forward with substantially more cap room to make a move. I'm not advocating that, I'm just saying, at some point the salary gets to be too much, regardless if it is a market value deal or not.
