Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told reporters earlier in camp that there wasn’t much room to fulfill Martin’s request, pointing to other prominent players’ upcoming extensions as the reason Jones couldn’t simply open up his wallet for Martin.
It took until Week 2 of the preseason for the parties to find common ground. With this deal, Martin vaults into the top three in average annual value at roughly $18 million per year, trailing only Atlanta’s Chris Lindstrom and Indianapolis’ Quenton Nelson.
Monday’s deal is a victory for Martin, who may be signing his last lucrative contract. He’s still playing at his peak, but at his age, it’s less likely he’ll fetch another large pay day.
With this in mind, Martin leveraged his standing to land one more raise. Dallas will sleep peacefully knowing it no longer has to worry about who will play right guard in 2023.