Does Zack Martin or Cowboys have upper hand in holdout leverage game?

Josh Ball started at right guard in the preseason opener.

The third-year pro was excited. He walked up to Mike McCarthy after the game and asked how it went.

“I got this new gig,” responded the Cowboys head coach, who called plays in the game for the first time in more than four-and-a-half years. “I’m kinda busy. Sorry.

“I didn’t get to watch all that.”

Now that McCarthy and the rest of his staff have had time to review the tape, they likely have come to the same conclusion as everyone else:

Ball is no Zack Martin.

Neither is anyone else on this roster.

Each passing day of Martin’s holdout increases his fine total — up to $900,000 and counting — and calls the exit strategy for both sides into doubt. Who blinks?

Back when the clock officially started on this impasse, the idea that the Pro Bowl guard wouldn’t be in the lineup when the Cowboys open the regular season against the New York Giants on Sept. 10 seemed far-fetched. Now, it’s becoming more difficult to determine how this will be resolved.

The organization is convinced it has all the leverage. With two years left on his contract, Martin’s only leverage — other than the fact he remains one of the NFL’s most dominant players at his position — is if the Cowboys’ already paper-thin depth in the offensive line falters or takes an injury hit in these final two preseason games.

Three weeks into this test of wills, let’s explore the leverage.

Martin is under contract. The deal made him the highest-paid player at his position when it was signed. He now ranks ninth.

He’ll be 34 years old when the contract ends.

Ranked by his current level of performance, Martin is much closer to one than he is nine when you look at the top guards around the league. But will he still rank that high at the end of this contract?

If Martin is simply seeking an adjustment for these final two seasons, there’s no financial incentive for the Cowboys to respond. If he’s unwilling to sign an extension, that would be an indication he’s leaning toward retirement at the end of the 2024 season, his 12th in the NFL. Why would Dallas give more money to a player who will be around for only two more seasons?

But then, what’s the incentive for the Cowboys to extend a lineman who would be 34 years old when that extension goes into effect?

Martin’s leverage? He remains the team’s best offensive lineman in a season where McCarthy has changed the protection scheme. You would be hard-pressed to identify the Cowboys’ best backup guard at the moment. Ball and Matt Farniok got most of those snaps in the loss to Jacksonville.

Now, put one of them into the starting lineup for Martin.

The Cowboys feel good about Tyler Smith at left guard. He did spend the majority of last year’s offseason working at the position.

But he’s never played guard in the NFL for a regular season game. And the moment Tyron Smith is injured — a reasonable assumption given he’s missed 33 games in the last three seasons and hasn’t played a full season since 2015 — Tyler Smith bumps back outside to left tackle.

Who are your starting guards in that scenario if Martin is still holding out?

And let’s go back to the right side. Say Ball does land the job. Remember, right tackle Terence Steele is coming off a torn ACL. Will he be at the top of his game to start the season?

Would you rather have Martin or Ball next to Steele as the tackle plays his way back into form?

Who would quarterback Dak Prescott prefer?

The Cowboys are dealing from a strong, contractual position in this impasse. But Martin has more leverage than the club care’s to concede.

It’s difficult to find a resolution at this stage. So the sides wait while Ball and others vie for a starting job with the Cowboys that has belonged to Martin since he came into the league nine years ago.

“This is good for us,” McCarthy said of the snaps being devoted to younger players. “It will pay dividends in the long run.”

This will pay dividends as long as Zack Martin is on the field when the season begins. If he’s not …

Well, then it’s hard to say either side has won.

Catch David Moore on The Ticket (KTCK-AM 1310 and 96.7 FM) with the Musers at 9:35 every morning and the Hardline several times a week at 4:35 p.m. during Cowboys training camp.

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