What does the return of All-Pro RG Zack Martin mean for Dallas Cowboys in 2023?

Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy declined to answer a question Tuesday about whether he was worried that All-Pro guard Zack Martin might not end his contract holdout before the Sept. 10 season opener against the New York Giants.

His response was appropriate and telling.

“That would be a hypothetical, so very happy he’s here,” McCarthy said with a smile on Tuesday. “So happy that that’s past us.”

The smiles were wide Tuesday when Martin walked on the practiced field in full pads with his teammates for the first time since the start of training camp.

The 21-day hold out ended on Monday as Martin and owner Jerry Jones came to an agreement on a reworked contract that bumped his pay from $13.5 million and $14 million in 2023 and 2024 to a little more than $18 million fully guaranteed in both years.

Said quarterback Dak Prescott: “It’s a blessing. God is good all the time. God is good all the time.”

And right tackle Terence Steele, whose development as a starter can be attributed to mentoring from Martin, could not contain his excitement.

“I hugged him forever, everyone was smiling ear to ear,” Steele said. “He’s the heartbeat of the team, one of the leaders. It was good to see him back here.”

McCarthy said all the right things during the holdout about focusing on the guys who were here and letting Martin handle his business.

But he knows there is no way the Cowboys could accomplish their goals in 2023 without Martin, a six-time All-Pro and the best at what he does on the team.

With the Giants, New York Jets, Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Rams, Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders on the schedule, the Cowboys will face some of the best defensive lines in the NFL in 2023.

“We got the news in the offensive staff meeting and the room erupted. A lot of high fives and hugs all day and night yesterday once he got in,” McCarthy said. “Yeah, I think it showed what he means to us and what he means to our football team and I know especially the offense. But it is a business, you know? This is part of our industry but we’re about connecting and what we need to do to win and he’s a big part of that.”

He won’t miss the heat and loneliness in Dallas

Martin was thrilled to finally arrive at camp and be with the guys again.

“My head hurt because I was smiling and laughing so much all day,” Martin said. “I don’t think I stopped talking from the moment I got here until I went to bed. It was great to see these guys. Three weeks doesn’t seem that long, but when you’re sitting in Dallas in 110 degree heat everyday, seeing your guys out there having fun out in training camp, it seems a little bit longer than it is.”

Martin acknowledged the loneliness of being back in Dallas, while his teammates were in camp, and that there were days when he didn’t know if a new contract would get done.

“I definitely had those moments, kept the faith and had a good feeling that eventually we would get to an agreement and luckily it came when it did,” Martin said.

The agreement was helped by a quirk in the Cowboys schedule that had them returning home for the preseason opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars last Saturday, unlike past years when they would hold their first preseason game on the West Coast near training camp in Oxnard.

It allowed him to meet face to face with Jerry Jones.

“It all came together when they got to come back to Dallas,” Martin said. “We got to spend that face to face time and kinda hammer this thing out. We reached out and some of my buddies in the organization helped kinda get that going. It was good to get face to face with them.”

Martin felt he ‘earned and deserved’ a new contract

Martin said it was a difficult decision to hold out and never thought he would be that guy. But it was something that had been weighing his mind since last season. And the Cowboys showed no interest in satisfying his wishes during the offseason.

“I’ve been here a long time,” Martin said. “I feel like I’ve accomplished some good things. At the end of the day, I felt this was something that I had earned and deserved. It had been on my mind a lot ever since last season and trying to get those talks early in the offseason and kinda not seeing it go my way. I had come to the realization, if I felt this strongly about it and I wanted it to get done, this was something I would have to do.”

Martin said he never took anything that Jones said during the process personal. He knew the Cowboys were going to play hard ball and he just had to roll with it, while keeping his eye on his main goal.

“I think you got to realize that when you make a decision like that to hold out, you’re stepping into their arena and kinda got to play by their rules,” Martin said. “But it was a great experience for me, learning to sit across from a guy like that with obviously all of the business savvy that he has. Although there were some tough times, there’s no hard feelings and we were able to come to an agreement and I was just looking forward to getting out here.”

Martin said he never wanted to be the highest-paid guard in the league. He just wanted to be fairly compensated. His average salary over the next two seasons is now third behind Chris Lindstrom of the Atlanta Falcons and Quentin Nelson of the Indianapolis Colts who are making $20.5 million and $20 million annually.

And the raise will offset the fines of $1,050,000 he incurred during the holdout, which can’t be rescinded.

”That’s how I justify it to myself because if I got this done I would make more money than I would be losing money,” Martin said with a hearty laugh.

Time to get ready for season opener

Now it’s time to get back to business. Martin is just glad to back with the team so he can be ready for the season opener.

“I’m grateful that it got done when it did to allow myself to have some time to get ready for week one,” Martin said. “I definitely didn’t want it to go up until that, because that comes with a whole bunch of other things to get ready for the season.”

The Cowboys plan to be smart with Martin. They will ramp him up slowly before fully integrating him into practice next week.

He didn’t miss too much because he was with the team during the offseason program and minicamp.

But his presence was missed because of what he means to the other players and how he helps make them better. Steele is a prime example, as is the development of center Tyler Biadasz.

He also plays an important role in the running game and protecting Prescott.

“You just look at the way he trains, the way he prepares, his training is top notch,” McCarthy said. “He’s super consistent. How much he pays it forward, he helps the young guys. Has excellent relationships throughout the building. And other than that when he puts his hand in the ground he’s really good. He just does everything right.

“I mean you’re going through the examples (when) you install a run, you install a protection and a very high percentage of time he’s part of that teaching reel. So and then obviously his reputation, his presence in the locker room, leadership council, all those things, it’s very beneficial to his teammates, but especially our young guys, I mean he’s an incredible example.”