With a 27-20 win in Week 13 vs. the Giants, the Cowboys improved to 5-7 in the 2024 season. Injuries have plagued Dallas all year long and it hasn’t stopped. Early on, pass rushers Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence missed time. On top of that, the Cowboys lost starting QB Dak Prescott for the season at the beginning of November.
Not ideal for a Dallas roster that had intentions of making the postseason in 2024. Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reported that All-Pro guard Zack Martin needs season-ending ankle surgery. Martin started 10 games for Dallas in 2024. There’s a belief that the 34-year-old will seriously contemplate retirement this offseason. That would be a massive loss moving forward for the Cowboys.
Zack Martin needs season-ending ankle surgery
We might have seen the last of Zack Martin in a Dallas Cowboys uniform.
Such a bummer. https://t.co/EzUq66oyQO
— RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) December 5, 2024
The Dallas Cowboys used the 16th overall pick to draft Zack Martin out of Notre Dame in 2014. Martin has started all 162 games he’s played in 11 seasons with the team. In those 11 years with Dallas, Martin has been named to the Pro Bowl nine times and is a seven-time first-team All-Pro selection. Additionally, he was named to the HOF All-2010’s team and Martin will have a spot in Canton, Ohio when his career is over. Martin entered the 2024 season with three straight first-team All-Pro selections.
Unfortunately, the big man needs ankle surgery and that’s not ideal for Martin at this stage in his career. He’s been a stalworth at guard for the last decade in Dallas but father time comes for every great athlete. In June, Zack Martin told reporters that the 2024 season could end up being his last. That was before he needed ankle surgery. Some players like to go out on their own terms and others know when it’s time to hang up the cleats. We’ll see what Zack Martin decides to do and if he’s ready to call it a career with Dallas.
