Zack Martin Immediately Contradicts Micah Parsons' Holdout Comment

The three guarantees for Dallas Cowboys fans seem to be: death, taxes, and non-stop contract discussions. 

The Cowboys are facing a lot of pressure to extend three of their best players — Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and Micah Parsons — and, understandably, the fanbase is worried about how potential training camp holdouts could affect the upcoming NFL season. 

While Prescott attended last month's voluntary organized team activities (OTAs), both Lamb and Parsons were absent, raising a lot of concern. While Lamb has opted to hold out of the Cowboys' mandatory training camp, Parsons made his return to the team on Tuesday. 

The world-class defender quickly dismissed any concerns regarding his OTA absence, though. Parsons told reporters that if Aaron Donald could miss offseason workouts and still win Defensive Player of the Year, there's nothing to worry about, per Dallas Morning News' Michael Gehlken.

While it's nice to see Parsons sounding confident, one of his teammates has quickly contradicted that statement. 

Cowboys News: Zack Martin Contradicts Micah Parsons' Holdout Comments

On Tuesday, veteran right guard Zack Martin talked to reporters about what could be his final NFL season and how this year's offseason compares to the last. Martin discussed how he was disappointed with his 2023 performance and that missing three weeks of training camp due to a contract holdout likely played a factor.

The 33-year-old vet stepped away from the Cowboys beginning in late July as he looked for a major pay raise. He eventually got what he was looking for as Dallas gave him a new deal that featured $36 million in guaranteed money across two seasons. 

Martin told Gelhken about the importance of players getting their reps in during training camp. Whether a player misses offseason time due to a holdout or injuries, the ex-Notre Dame product added that the situation can make someone feel "like you’re always playing catch up." 

"I felt like last year, you roll in a couple weeks before the season, and you’re just trying to play catch up. 'I need to get in the right conditioning shape. I need to get work with the guys I’m playing next to."

- Zack Martin

In other words, Parsons might want to reconsider missing more time as the offseason continues. There's no denying the impact he has on the gridiron, but if one of the greatest guards of all time is stressing how missing camp can derail a player's season, the 25-year-old can't just brush those worse off even if they weren't directed to him. 

Parsons' early career success may have led to his ego growing with each passing year. He's already finished top three in DPOY voting in each of his first three seasons, which is bound to make any player begin to start feeling themselves more, and ranks fourth in the NFL with 40.5 sacks since the beginning of 2021. 

But as cocky as Parsons might be, he can't forget that football is a team sport. While it's nice to make money and dominate the local headlines, it's also important to be there for his teammates. The Cowboys are desperately looking to end their Super Bowl drought and it'd be helpful if their best defender was in attendance to foster more chemistry. 

Hopefully, the ex-Penn State defender doesn't miss a beat next season, regardless of how long any holdouts last. The Cowboys' outlook looks promising as they sit at +1500 odds (8th) to win Super Bowl LIX on FanDuel Sportsbook. 

In other words, it'd be a shame if Parsons' potential continued absence negatively affects those odds.

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