Cowboys guard Zack Martin to have season-ending surgery

FRISCO, Texas -- The season is over for Dallas Cowboys All-Pro guard Zack Martin. Coach Mike McCarthy said Martin will undergo surgery on a right ankle issue that has been troubling the player for some time.

Martin has missed the past two games with ankle and shoulder injuries. And now comes a question as to whether he will be back in 2025.

"I think you just have to take a step back and deal with one thing at a time and that's frankly the conversation that Zack and I had," McCarthy said. "The focus is really about the surgery, what's next. And I think those are all questions that I'm sure that will be asked or will be thought about. But he 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 obviously this is I think the third surgery that he'll have on that ankle."

Martin, who turned 34 last month, is under contract through 2025, however, when the deal was restructured last offseason it was designed to help spread out a salary-cap hit over the 2025 and '26 seasons if he retired. If Martin is on the roster the fifth day of the 2025 league year, he would be guaranteed $40 million in 2026. Had the Cowboys not made that move, Martin would have counted nearly $25 million against the 2025 cap.

Martin has been bothered by a right ankle injury for most of the season and suffered a shoulder injury during the season. In the Nov. 18 loss to the Houston Texans, Martin left early because of a sprain to his other ankle. The hope was that with time off he would recover enough to be able to return, but the right ankle injury continued to be problematic, which led to the decision to have surgery.

"Everybody involved thought it was best for him to get the surgery," McCarthy said.

Martin has deflected talk about his future throughout the season, wanting to keep the focus on the field, but if he opts to retire, he would do so as one of the most decorated Cowboys in franchise history. He was named to the Pro Bowl nine times in his first 10 years and an All-Pro seven times. Only Hall of Famers Bob Lilly (11), Larry Allen (10) and Mel Renfro (10), plus 11-timer Jason Witten, who is not eligible for the Hall of Fame yet, have been selected to more Pro Bowls than Martin in Dallas history.

"Clearly a Hall of Famer, not only for the way he plays but just first class," McCarthy said. "He just commands a lot of respect. Same person, personality every single day. Hard working. True team guy. Puts the team first. He's been a joy to work with and I can't say enough great things about him."

The Cowboys famously selected Martin in the first round in 2014 (at No. 16) despite owner and general manager Jerry Jones asking more than once whether the team should use the pick on former Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel.

Martin was the only rookie to be named a first-team All-Pro that season and was the first Cowboys rookie to earn that honor. The only year he did not make the Pro Bowl came in 2020, when he missed seven games with a concussion and a calf injury.

In Martin's absence, the Cowboys have started Brock Hoffman at right guard and have had two of their better rushing performances, including the first 100-yard effort since Week 3 of the 2023 season from Rico Dowdle.