Zack Martin emotionally-charged Cowboys’ retirement speech: ‘I gave it everything I had’ – Patrik Walker, DallasCowboys.com
The future Hall of Famer bid an emotional goodbye to football.
Martin reflected on his time with the Cowboys as a player and his impact on the Dallas community.
“What a privilege it is for the Dallas Cowboys to have you having been the player you’ve been, and the only team you’ve ever played for in professional sports,” said owner and general manager Jerry Jones before comparing him to the greatest offensive lineman in NFL history. “We’re honored … and we all know the great Larry Allen is someone we’re proud of. I wanna tell you right now, having known him personally and being involved in every kind of serious decision he was involved in, you guys are twins.
“You’re twins. And you’ve had the same deep-seated respect for your fellow teammates and for what you were trying to contribute for the team to win. We all know everybody calls Larry the greatest, well, now we’ve got a debate coming on.”
As a list of current and former teammates filed into The Star in Frisco to honor him — e.g., Dak Prescott, Tony Romo, Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick and many, many others who shared a field with The GOB — the solemn celebration featured everything from tears flowing to laughs ensuing as Martin and the Joneses remembered the drama of the 2014 draft that landed the former in Dallas at the expense of quarterback Johnny Manziel.
“It was an absolute privilege to run out of the tunnel every Sunday and give this city everything I had,” he said, clearing his throat often out of emotion. “I know many of you may have seen this decision coming, but that doesn’t make it any easier. Football has been a huge part of my life.
“It’s what I know. It’s what I love. It’s what has shaped me for as long as I can remember. I did not make this decision lightly. It comes after a long thought and prayer. But the time has come for my football journey to reach its end.”
Jerry Jones brought to tears speaking on Dallas Cowboys legend – Ali Jawad, Sports Illustrated
Zack Martin wasn’t the only emotional person on stage at his retirement press conference.
It was 11 years ago that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones walked out of the war room at the Valley Ranch headquarters because he felt his team and son executive VP Stephen Jones made the wrong decision during the 2014 NFL Draft.
Rather than selecting the exciting and crowd-drawing Johnny Manziel, the Cowboys selected a guard named Zack Martin with the 16th overall pick out of Notre Dame.
“The reason you’re sitting in the middle, I think, is because they wanted to separate me and Stephen [Jones] because I still have knots on my chin from him kicking me under the table when we were sitting there discussing that draft day,” Jones said jokingly with Martin sitting between the two at his retirement presser.
Now fast forward 11 years, nine All-Pros, and Pro Bowl selection’s later, an emotional Jones could only sit and listen as he enjoyed every bit of the moment of reflection while the future hall of fame Martin was delivering his retirement speech.
“This room today, I think, is gathered for an appreciation of a person who has taken all the things this [organization] stands for, Jones said. “All that we’re interested in, why we get up, and why we spend our time focused the way we do. If you sum up all the things this room is interested in.
Tony Romo, sitting over there, many of your former colleagues, former players who played with you, are here. But if you take the common interest that we have in this room, that’s why we are here to recognize you for a great career. Just as he [Zack Martin] was concise and efficient in his remarks that covered so many, many accomplishments.”
“The player you are, the person you are, the leader you are, your unique inner play with the part of our time together has been exemplary, unsurpassed, yet very competitive and very strong,” Jones said.
Cowboys Big-Name Cap Moves Clear Way To Sign Super Bowl Linebacker – Anthony Goss, AthlonSports.com
Let’s just, for a brief moment, fantasize about Dallas making free agency moves.
Dallas has gotten active in the days leading up to the start of free agency. They made the deal for Odighizuwa, but also brought back C.J. Godwin, Juanyeh Thomas and Brock Hoffman. These were all in response to the bigger moves made behind the scenes.
The Cowboys have “flipped the switch” on Dak Prescott’s and CeeDee Lamb’s contracts, restructuring them in ways that now open up more cap space for the team to use potentially this offseason.
Some of those resources will go into an expected contract extension for Micah Parsons, but also open up avenues for the team to build through free agency if they choose.
As they explore the market, there are needs to be filled across the board, but could the Cowboys try to beef up their defense with another linebacker? Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton is set to hit free agency and could be an option for Dallas.
Bolton turned in another solid season in 2024 with 106 total tackles and three sacks, also recovering two fumbles. He may not drive an extremely high price in free agency, so if he wants out of Kansas City, the Cowboys have good reason to show interest.
Cowboys restructure Prescott and Lamb deals, but any impact on free agency is murky – Schuyler Dixon, Associated Press
Jerry Jones tries to temper expectations for free agency.
The Dallas Cowboys created nearly $57 million in salary cap space by restructuring the contracts of star quarterback Dak Prescott and his top receiver, CeeDee Lamb.
It remains to be seen what the wiggle room will mean next week in free agency, where the Cowboys have been conservative at best in recent years.
“I don’t think ‘aggressive’ is the right word,” owner and general manager Jerry Jones said Wednesday after a retirement ceremony for seven-time All-Pro right guard Zack Martin. “I wouldn’t call us really void in any area, void if you include what we’re going to do in the draft. I’m not looking at free agency as a place to fill a void.”
As for outside options, it’s been a decade-plus since the Cowboys signed a free agent they expected to have a significant role as a starter.
“As opportunity would come up, not from the draft, not from within, as opportunity comes up, we’ll wait,” Jerry Jones said. “We’ll look and see on the opportunity that basically, both defense and offense, is to complement what we’re wanting to do with a Dak-led team.”
