Cowboys' Updated Salary Cap After Zack Martin Agrees to New 2-Year Contract

Zack Martin and the Dallas Cowboys have officially settled his contract situation.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that the team had reworked the All-Pro guard's contract, giving him a significant pay increase to more than $18 million per season.

This will insert him into the top-15 highest paid offensive lineman in the NFL, per OverTheCap.com. He was originally slated to make $13.5 million in 2023 and $14 million in 2024, and had been engaged in a holdout that saw him accrue over $1 million in fines, per K.D. Drummond of USA Today's Cowboys Wire.

Martin will now become the second-highest paid player on the Dallas Cowboys, overtaking defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, who makes $17.1 million in 2023. The only player on the Cowboys roster who will make more than Martin this season is Dak Prescott, who is set to take home $26.8 million in 2023.

Before Martin's extension, the Cowboys had the third-most Top-51 Cap space in the NFL at about $22 million, behind only the Arizona Cardinals ($23.5 million) and Philadelphia Eagles ($22.1 million). Martin's extension will drop that number from to under $18 million, which will allow the Carolina Panthers, Cincinnati Bengals, Detroit Lions and Indianapolis Colts to jump ahead of them.

The cap situation in 2024 will be much different however, as Prescott is projected to jump to $59 million cap hit. The Cowboys cap space will drop to $9 million over the cap, which will be 20th in the league.

Martin's extension is well-deserved, given his production. He has been named to eight Pro Bowls and designated as All-Pro six times. He was elected to the 2010's All-Decade team and has been key protector for a Cowboys team that ranked in the top half of the league in 2022.