FRISCO, Texas (AP) - Zack Martin is practicing with the Dallas Cowboys again as the two-time All-Pro closes in on a contract that's expected to make him the highest-paid guard in the NFL.
Martin skipped all nine voluntary offseason workouts while negotiations that started about a year ago kept dragging. But he was on the field after the club and his representatives got close on a deal over the weekend.
The former Notre Dame standout said he wasn't sure if he would have attended the start of mandatory minicamp Tuesday without the progress in negotiations.
The 27-year-old Martin was set to make $9.3 million in the final year of his rookie deal. Martin's new contract is expected to surpass the $13.3 million annual average in the $66.5 million, five-year contract that Jacksonville's Andrew Norwell signed in March.
Martin was the 16th overall pick in 2014 and was an All-Pro as a rookie when DeMarco Murray led the NFL in rushing for the NFC East champions. He repeated the feat two years later when rookie Ezekiel Elliott was the rushing leader for another division champion.
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