The Dallas Cowboys offense line has often held the reputation as one of the biggest and baddest units in the NFL stretching back three decades. But that was far from the case in 2024.
Pro Football Focus ranked the Cowboys' line 25th out of 32 teams, one slot behind the Chicago Bears' O-line, which led the league with 68 sacks surrendered.
"There were a lot of uncertainties before the season surrounding the Cowboys' offensive line, which was starting two rookies after the departures of Tyler Biadasz and Tyron Smith," Zoltan Buday wrote on Wednesday, Jan. 8 . "Unfortunately for Dallas, what we saw in 2024 was one of the worst possible outcomes for them: Right guard Zack Martin continued to decline prior to his season being cut short due to an injury, rookie Cooper Beebe endured growing pains after converting from guard to center in the NFL and first-round pick Tyler Guyton was a liability at left tackle."
Martin, now 34 years old, has been a stalwart of the group since joining the Cowboys in 2014, earning All-Pro honors in nine of his first 10 campaigns entering last season. The only year he failed to earn a spot on either the first- or second-team came in 2020, when Martin played just 10 games due to injury.
That was unfortunately the case for the future Hall of Fame right guard this year as well, as he played just 10 contests again. As a result, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN recently floated Martin as a potential cut candidate.
"Martin underwent season-ending ankle surgery in December and is not a lock to play again despite his Hall of Fame résumé," Fowler reported Monday. "Dallas is slowly rebuilding its offensive line and could move on from him."
Martin is entering the second season of a two-year, $37 million contract in 2025 and carries a salary cap hit of $10.7 million. Dallas can save $1.25 million by cutting or trading him as a post-June 1 designation while incurring a $9.4 million dead money cap hit.
