Zack Martin's 2024 season is over. His career might be finished, too.
The nine-time Pro Bowl guard is headed for season-ending ankle surgery, Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy told reporters Thursday.
Martin appeared in 10 games this season, playing 80-plus percent of snaps in all but one contest for Dallas. The decorated interior lineman and 2014 first-round pick entered 2024 with three straight first-team All-Pro selections in tow, but admitted in June this season could be his last, saying "I think it's definitely in the realm of possibilities."
With his season now finished, it may soon be time for Martin to start seriously considering his future.
"I think just like anything you just have to take a step back and deal with one thing at a time," McCarthy said on Thursday. "That frankly was the conversation that Zack and I had. The focus is really about the surgery, what's next.
"I think those are all questions that I'm sure will be asked or be thought about. But really in my conversations with him, his focus is on getting the surgery and trying to do the best he can with this ankle because I think this is the third surgery he'll have on that ankle."
Martin has made the Pro Bowl and an All-Pro team in every season but one in his career -- 2020, in which he also played in only 10 games. He's been one of the game's most consistent linemen during his 11-year run in the NFL -- and one of the toughest, to boot -- but felt as if he didn't quite play up to his standard in 2023, despite the postseason accolades.
That admission motivated him to give it another go in 2024, almost in an effort to prove to himself he could still play at an elite level. As he said in June, he had "a little chip" on his shoulder.
Father Time and the financial element of pro football could end up having a greater influence than anything, though. Martin turned 34 in November and is in the final year of his contract with the Cowboys, making for another difficult decision for a Dallas team that hasn't exactly secured extensions swiftly.
Though he still carries a sparkling reputation, Pro Football Focus fell in line with Martin's self-assessment, handing him a 69.8 offensive grade for his 2023 performance. 2024 was even worse, landing at 65.6.
If this is it for Martin, what a run it was. With the nine Pro Bowls and seven first-team All-Pro selections, he's all but guaranteed to end up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. We'll see if the countdown to Canton begins in 2025, or if Martin delays it for one more season with Dallas.
