Earlier in the week, some surprising news broke when it was reported that All-Pro guard Zack Martin is considering not showing up to Dallas Cowboys training camp.

It's because Martin believes he is severely underpaid and there's certainly an argument to be made in his favor. Martin is still considered one of the best -if not the best- guards in the NFL and right now, he is ninth in terms of AAV (average annual value). The key here, however, is the difference between Martin's salary and Chris Lindstrom, the highest-paid guard: Lindstrom is making $20.5 million per year, whereas Martin is at $14 million.

That's a pretty big gap and it's not like Martin's play has fallen off or anything. Per Pro Football Focus, his 98.7 pass blocking efficiency tied for third-best among all guards with at least 985 blocking snaps in 2022 and his 16 pressures allowed tied for the sixth-fewest among qualifying players (32 total). Martin and Baltimore Ravens guard, Ben Powers, were the only two guards to allow 16 pressures or less and accrue one or fewer penalties.

Martin also finished in the upper-half of PFF's run blocking grades. Overall, his game is still on par with some of the NFL's best and he's still one of the best Cowboys on the roster.

So, paying him is a no-brainer and it's something the Cowboys need to remedy, right?

Well, according to former NFL player and current ESPN analyst, Ryan Clark, Martin's situation isn't something to worry about. More specifically – it's not even something he cares about.

"I don't care what happens with Zack Martin. I really don't," Clark said on Thursday's episode of NFL Live. "Because you know why? Mike McCarthy took over this offense and said, 'We're going to the run the ball.' You know what else helps when you run the ball? Playing great defense. When you look throughout the league, there is no team in the NFC that should be better than the Dallas Cowboys are defensively…

"… Let's talk about the decision to solidify to the interior defensive line… this is a team that's going to be able to straight-up shutout opponents and Dan Quinn has gotten the football turned over throughout his tenure in Dallas, but I believe this year they can do more than that and become absolutely shut down."

It's a pretty weird take and Clark's logic has some pretty big holes.

For starters, he initially points to McCarthy's desire to run the ball more. Well, in order to do that effectively, you probably want your best offensive lineman on the field, right? Even in pass protection – not having Martin on the field could limit things for Dak Prescott and co.

And then Clark flips over to the defensive side of the ball where he talks about how Dallas' defense should take off because of how they fortified the interior of the defensive line. The iDL was a big weak spot for the Cowboys and yes, they definitely improved it this past offseason. 

But, if the key to the defense taking off resides in the iDL, shouldn't that make the interior offensive line just as important? Especially, again, if it doesn't have its best player on the field? If Martin isn't on the field, it's going to hurt the offense, which in turn, will hurt the defense that Clark is banking all of this on.

And then finally, banking on a defense to be good, especially "shut down" as Clark states isn't a sound process. Defensive performances vary greatly from year to year in the NFL. In fact, the high variance is often what sinks teams with high expectations. Just look at the Green Bay Packers last year: Their slow start on defense played a big role in the team's slow start, overall, and the defense's improvement over the back half of the season played a big role in the team's four-game winning streak.

Overall, it's a strange take and its one Clark may want to reassess. But, what else is expected when it comes to Cowboys takes in the middle of July?

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Featured image via Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports