Much to fans' chagrin, the Dallas Cowboys have developed a propensity for swallowing chunks of dead money year after year.
While that is unavoidable in a salary cap league that commands such gargantuan contracts, Dallas historically has needed two, three, and four moves to blow up in their face before learning a lesson. Most upper-echelon teams learn after one or two mistakes.
The team's cap outlook for 2025 is no different. In a bit of a surprise, though, it is none other than Zack Martin who owns the biggest dead cap hit after announcing his retirement. The number checks in at $8.02 million, per Over The Cap.
The Cowboys technically should have saved $1.2 million following Martin's retirement, but that is negated by an injury settlement.
Cowboys' biggest dead cap hit in 2025 belongs to Zack Martin
To make matters worse, Martin's dead cap number will balloon to $16.4 million next year. While not the end of the world, it is the consequence of Dallas continuously restructuring Martin's contract.
In the summer of 2023, Martin essentially signed a two-year extension with three void years to end a holdout. The Cowboys wrote up the contract to allow them to divvy up the allocation of Martin's bonus money over the first two seasons of his retirement.
The seven-time All-Pro had over $26 million left in bonus money after last season. The team will absorb $10 million of that on this year's cap before the $16.4 million comes into play next year.
Read more: Cowboys squander golden opportunity to sign best RB since Ezekiel Elliott
It has become the norm in Dallas to add void years to big-time contracts. Both Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb have multiple void years on the extensions they signed last year.
Void years allow teams to push cap hits into the future when players are no longer under contract. It is one of the most common cap practices league wide. That can explain why Martin tops the team's 2025 dead cap list.
However, the Cowboys are still paying the price for extending and eventually releasing wide receiver Michael Gallup. Now with the Commanders after unretiring, Gallup will cost Dallas $8.7 million in dead money this season.
Not far behind is defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence ($7.4 million), who also had a void year added to 2025 to lessen his cap hits while he was under contract.
At this juncture, it would be surprising if Martin didn't own the biggest dead cap hit on next year's team. A double whammy, albeit an expect one, from him deciding to retire.