Cincinnati Bengals Free Agency Preview: Rehab-or-Retirement Decision Looms for One of the Best Guards of His Era

Jay Morrison | Feb 11, 2025

October 8, 2023; Santa Clara, California, USA; Dallas Cowboys guard Zack Martin (70) warms up before the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

CINCINNATI – The oldest – and most decorated – guard in Pro Football Focus’ list of top free agents makes for an interesting debate for the Cincinnati Bengals as they look to improve the interior of their offensive line.

Zack Martin has been selected to nine Pro Bowls and voted first team All Pro seven times during his 11-year career, all of which has been spent playing for the Dallas Cowboys.

Martin is slated to hit free agency 34, and he’ll turn 35 a little more than halfway through the season in November.

PFF ranks him as the seventh best guard available in this year’s free agency class and the No. 60 overall, one spot behind Brandon Scherff, who we wrote about Monday.

Previous Guard Profiles

Trey Smith

Will Fries

Teven Jenkins

Kevin Zeitler

James Daniels

Mekhi Becton

Brandon Scherff

Martin, who was the Cowboys’ Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee in 2024, has started 162 games, including at least 10 in all 11 seasons.

But last year he barely reached double digits, suffering an ankle injury in the team’s 10th game before undergoing season-ending surgery.

A big question will be whether Martin, a likely Hall of Famer with $112 million in career earnings, wants to go through the rigors of rehab or simply call it a career.

“First off, I want to try to get healthy,” Martin said while making the rounds on Radio Row at the Super Bowl, according to the Fort Worth-Star Telegram.

“(I’ll decide) here in the next month, six weeks. Me and my wife have been talking about it, but right now I’m focused on getting healthy and seeing how I feel with this ankle repaired and whether or not I’ll give it a go again.”

Martin never reached an NFC Conference Championship Game with the Cowboys – and is 3-6 in the postseason – so chasing a ring at this point in his career would seem to be a bigger factor than money.

And with the Bengals having the seventh best odds to win Super Bowl 60, a pairing could make sense.

But among guards with at least 600 snaps last season, Martin ranked No. 44 in pass blocking by PFF. Although he was the No. 28 guard overall.

As recently as 2023, Martin was a top 10 pass-blocking guard, ranking No. 9. And he was the No. 18 guard overall.

Even in his mid-30s, he would be an upgrade from Alex Cappa, who is expected to be a cap cut casualty, and Cordell Volson.

Spotrac.com lists Martin’s projected contract as one year for $9.1 million.

But he would bring value beyond the field, teaming with Orlando Brown Jr. and Ted Karras as a veteran leader on an offensive line with a coach in Scott Peters who will be in just his second season running his own unit.

Martin also a tangential tie to the Cincinnati organization as his brother-in-law is former Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert, who was his college teammate at Notre Dame.

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