Longtime Dallas Cowboys star guard Zack Martin is pondering whether to play in 2025 and said Tuesday he will make a decision in four to six weeks.
The nine-time Pro Bowler missed the last seven games of the season due to season-ending ankle surgery.
The 34-year-old Martin said getting healthy is his first priority and then the decision about his playing future will follow.
“First off, I want to try to get healthy. Here in the next month, six weeks, me and my wife have been talking about it,” Martin said of his decision timeline. “Right now, I’m focused on getting healthy and seeing how I feel with this ankle kind of repaired and whether or not I’m going to go out and try to go again.”
The seven-time first-team All-Pro acknowledged the mental component will also factor in the decision.
“Just mentally if I’m ready to, I know what it takes to be an elite player in this league and what all goes into it,” Martin said while in New Orleans for the Super Bowl. “I think I just got to get my head mentally around if I want to commit to that for another year or not.”
Another caveat is that Martin’s contract with the Cowboys is up. The potential Pro Football Hall of Famer will become a free agent in March and could leave after 11 seasons and 162 regular-season games (all starts) in Dallas.
Mike McCarthy departed as coach after the season so Dallas will have a new head man in Brian Schottenheimer, who was offensive coordinator the past two seasons and on the staff for the last three.
“I’m excited for him, man,” Martin said. “He’s made an impression on that building the last couple of years. I think what he does really well is he does a great job of having relationships in the building with everyone, whether it be an offensive player or a defensive player.
“I know that’s kind of at the forefront of what he wants to bring to the organization is those relationships within the team and throughout the people who work there, and I think he’ll do a great job with that.”
Part of the reason Martin is in New Orleans is because he’s the Cowboys’ nominee for the prestigious Walter Payton Man of the Year award. But he wishes he was in town as a player.
“I mean, it’ll be cool to experience it as a fan, but obviously wish we could have played in it at some point in my career.” Martin said.
