NFL insider claims Zack Martin’s $6,500,000 ex-Cowboys teammate expected to follow his footsteps into retirement in 2025

A day after Dallas Cowboys guard Zack Martin announced his retirement, his long-time friend and former teammate may soon follow suit. Injuries have gotten the best of Tyron Smith, who left Dallas to join the New York Jets last season on a one-year $6.5 million contract.

NFL insider Ari Meirov says the former two-time First-team All-Pro offensive tackle was not at his best in 2024 and picked him among the many who could follow Martin and announce retirement.

"One of Zack Martin's close friends on the offensive line was Tyron Smith," Meirov said (2:02). "13 years with the Cowboys and spent the past year with the Jets, who was not the same Tyron Smith that we are used to. He's had a multitude of injuries the last 5-6 years, it has kind of caught up with him and he's going to be a free agent this off season.

"But last year there really was not much interest in him on the open market, the Jets signed him to a 1 year, $6.5 million deal with incentives that could go as high as $20 million, I don't know if he reached many of them and considering that there was not much interest last year I can see this as being Tyron Smith's last year as well."

The 34-year-old, drafted by the Cowboys in the first round in 2011, started the first 10 games of the 2024 season with the Jets before suffering a neck injury that sidelined him for the remainder of the campaign.

In his final season with the Cowboys, he started 13 games, while he missed most of 2022 after tearing his hamstring in training camp. He played just four regular season games that season but wasn’t available until Week 15 against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Since the 2020 season, he’s spent his share of time rehabilitating from recurring neck issues while dealing with lingering ankle problems as well.

Tyron Smith stats with Jets

Tyron Smith, who will become a free agent in March, and has a strong resume on the offensive line from his days with the Cowboys, though it wasn't evident last season in New York.

In 2024, Smith allowed five sacks per PFF, while allowing 22 pressured and four hits and he was penalized six times. He played in nearly 600 offensive snaps (592), all of which were at the left tackle position.

In his early days as a Dallas Cowboy in 2014 he became the first offensive lineman in 10 years to be named Offensive Player of the Week

A former First-team All-Pac 10 in 2010, Smith was either a First- or Second-team All-Pro five times in his NFL career and was named to the league’s 2010s All-Decade Team. Ahead of the 2020 campaign, he was ranked 78th by fellow players on the list of NFL Top 100 Players.