The Dallas Cowboys were well aware that the 2024 season could be Zack Martin's last. And once the 34-year-old underwent season-ending ankle surgery in early December, the chances of him returning for one final campaign in 2025 dipped dramatically.
So, while it's never easy to say goodbye to a franchise legend, it wasn't a big shock when the news broke that Martin had informed Jerry Jones that he would indeed be retiring after 11 NFL seasons, all of which were spent with America's Team.
Taken with the 16th overall selection in the first round of the 2014 draft, the Notre Dame product wasted no time becoming one of the top guards in the league.
Not only did Martin earn a Pro Bowl selection in his first season, he was also named a First-Team All-Pro, making him the first offensive lineman to receive the honor since 1947. Furthermore, he placed second in the Offensive Rookie of the Year vote, finishing behind only Odell Beckham Jr.
For those wondering, no, it's not normal for an offensive lineman to receive votes for prestigious postseason awards.
Over the course of his 11-year run with Dallas, Martin ultimately earned nine Pro Bowl selections, the fifth-most in franchise history, and nine total All-Pro nods. His seven First-Team selections are tied for the most by any player in team history and the most by any guard in NFL history. Randall McDaniel and John Hannah, both of whom are enshrined in Canton, also earned seven apiece.
As mentioned, the Cowboys knew Martin's retirement was a possibility. In fact, this has been in the works for nearly two years, as the Indiana native contemplated hanging up his cleats prior to the 2023 campaign while holding out for a restructured contract.
He obviously received said contract to the tune of two years and $36.85 million, but the deal also included clauses and void years that would help Dallas manage the salary cap implications.
Another void year was added last March when the two sides agreed to turn $16.25 million of his 2024 salary into a signing bonus, thus creating $13 million of cap space.
So, what does the Cowboys' cap situation look like now that Martin has retired?
Zack Martin's retirement causes the Cowboys a bigger cap problem in 2026 than in 2025
Assuming the Cowboys process Martin's retirement after June 1, which is the only logical thing to do here, as that allows them to spread out the dead cap hit over two seasons instead of one.
Martin's cap hit for 2025 is currently $10.655 million. But with a post-June 1 designation, his $1.255 million base salary is voided, dropping the number to $9.4 million, which consists of the $8.24 million restructure proration and the $1.16 million signing proration.
So, while it's never great to have dead money on the books, it's manageable enough. In 2026, however, the number nearly doubles.
As none of the bonuses on the three void years (2026, 2027, 2028) on Martin's contract were latched onto the Cowboys' 2024 cap, all of that money, which comes out to $17.06 million, will count as dead money on the 2026 cap. That's not an insignificant amount.
The silver lining here, though, is that the salary cap continues to skyrocket each and every year, bumping up more than $100 million since 2018. As one can only assume another big bump is coming a year from now, that $17.06 million will represent a lower percentage of the Cowboys' cap number.
