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FRISCO, Texas – As we've been taught, all good things must come to an end.

But why, too, all great things?

To steal Nate Newton's most appropriate nickname, signifying his greatness and importance to the ����TV over his 11-year distinguished NFL career, "The President" is resigning.

We sensed this was coming, though probably hoping he'd change his mind and guarantee you, health willing, the Cowboys were, too. He's meant that much to them, not only on the field but in the locker room and off the field, too.

But how appropriate? The Cowboys designated Zack Martin their 2024 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year. If the future Pro Football Hall of Fame guard couldn't single-handedly plow the Cowboys into a Super Bowl, at least he was able to make it to Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans two weeks ago to not only walk the NFL Honors stage with all 32 Man of the Year nominees, that honor going to Jacksonville defensive lineman Arik Armstead, but also onto the Superdome field during pregame activities, sort of a Super Bowl-less career consolation prize.

Job well done there, sir, sort of the personal victory lap for the 34-year-old Zachary Edward Martin.

Couldn't have been happier for him, if in our business we're allowed to throw such flowers at someone we've known for a skosh more than a decade. And guessing, this not just me. Most everyone who's ever come in contact with Zack over these years, especially those in the Cowboys organization, the Jones Family, teammates, trainers, equipment staff, and a slew of coaches certainly feel the same way.

Not everyone in this game can walk away of their volition. Injuries send some packing. Many leave kicking and screaming after being told you're no longer good enough.

But Zack has met a three-way intersection of mounting age, that dang surgically repaired ankle, and, guessing, contentment with where he is in life: married with three kids, and judging from his character, having built a wealthy financial trust fund.

One of those who couldn't be happier for him is former Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett. Garrett had a huge hand in bringing Martin to the Cowboys with the 16th pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, which was sort of the final piece in his reconstruction project of a broken-down offensive line.

"Such a privilege to be around him, to coach him," Garrett told me on Friday.

That Martin has spent these 11 years with the Cowboys has a lot to do with kind fate before earning nine Pro Bowl honors – Larry Allen the only offensive lineman in franchise history with more at 10 – seven AP First-Team All-Pro selections, and really nine if we count two more from the Pro Football Writers Association, more than the previous franchise offensive lineman high of six from Hall of Famer Rayfield Wright, John Niland and Nate Newton.

See, the Cowboys drafted Martin with the 16th pick in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft, Garrett saying, "Zack was one of those guys when he came out in the draft that there was just an overwhelming consensus about him from everybody in our building who's ever been around him, just the kind of guy he is, the kind of player he is.

"He was one of those guys who checked every box so emphatically."

But Garrett also remembers, and so do we, the Cowboys initial intentions in that draft were to go defense. They were hot on UCLA linebacker Anthony Barr, yep that Barr. He went 11th to Minnesota. They were hoping Pittsburgh defensive lineman Aaron Donald would drop to them at 16. Donald went 13 to the Rams. And then, just one pick away, the Cowboys thought they had their guy Ryan Shazier, the Ohio State linebacker. Pittsburgh nabbed him at 15.

What to do, what to do?

"So, you look up on the board," Garrett remembers and says, "OK, what's the blinking light on the board . . . Zack Martin, Zack Martin, Zack Martin – Zack Martin is staring at you. We will not go wrong with this pick, the guy is an unbelievable player, everything you want in a player.

"As you remember we had a conversation about Johnny Manziel who slid down the board, but there was such a consensus in our building about Zack and we ended up taking him. Obviously a helluva pick."

Truly so.

This reminded me of Senior Bowl week before that draft. Remember the pass rush drills. Zack was the only offensive lineman able to stop Donald. And Donald was the only pass rusher who could beat Zack. The score going up against each other usually was a tie.

"Two of the all-time great football players of their generation," says Garrett, the Cowboys former backup quarterback, offensive coordinator and head coach from 2011-2019. "And certainly, they stack up with players who have ever played the game."

Garrett was inheriting an offensive e line that grew old and expensive during the 2010 season, the then offensive coordinator taking over as interim head coach from Wade Phillips' 1-7 team. He knew, and always gives credit to learning this from his dad Jim, a former college head coach and longtime Cowboys scout, you had better shore up your offensive line or else.

So, in 2011, with the ninth pick in the first round the Cowboys select offensive tackle Tyron Smith. In 2013, the Cowboys trade down to 31 in the first round to grab center Travis Frederick. The next year, Martin. The year after that, sign free agent guard/tackle La'el Collins.

Mission accomplished.

"I talk a lot about cornerstones pieces," Garrett says. "These guys are cornerstone pieces."

And better grab a drink before asking Garrett about what has made Martin so good, no doubt a first ballot Hall of Famer after serving his mandatory five-year waiting period. Jason initially mentions the former two-time team captain at Notre Dame, a first in school history, his talent for sure. Then his competitiveness. His toughness. His leadership. Absolutely his character. Just how hard he worked.

"When you are coaching," he remembers telling young players, "You say, 'Just watch No. 70. Just do what he does.'"

When trying to sum up who Martin is, what he's meant to the Cowboys, and heck, to him as a head coach, Garrett says this of the guy he coached for six seasons:

"The lasting memory I will always have of Zack Martin is we've driven the ball down the field, a mix of run and pass, and we get down in there close, we run it in with Zeke Elliott right behind him (for a touchdown). Just his look when he came running off the field, and the smile he has on his face, and the love that he has for the game, and playing, and his teammates, and all of that, was just remarkable.

"And I saw it so much, this look that he had, 'God, I just love playing football.' So, for me, that was such a distinguishing trait for him, and trust me, we tried to build our team with guys who were absolutely like that – passionate about the game, work hard, all the stuff you've heard me talk about being the right kind of guy.

"That's what we were looking for. And he just embodied that, just the lasting impression of how much he loved playing football."

Now the Cowboys must replace what has always been considered the irreplaceable one. Can they live with Brock Hoffman, who started five games this season, most at right guard after Martin finally gave in after 10 games from struggling with the balky ankle since training camp to have season-ending surgery to repair ligament damage and remove bone spurs? Hoffman played admirably, but can they live long term with Brock? Might it be T.J. Bass? Asim Richards? Might they select a guard on one of the first two days of this upcoming draft?

We'll find out soon enough.

But the Cowboys also know over these next two years they will have to pay the piper for the years of restructuring his base salaries to create salary cap space by paying bonuses to offset his rising base salaries and pushing the proration down the line. Well, now time to pay off the credit card. Martin will technically be released come the start of the March 12 new league year as a June 1 cut. That will allow them to spread out $26 million in dead money, approximately $9 million this year and $17 million next year.

That's a hard pill to swallow. But was it worth it? You bet. And you see, those who are quick to criticize the Cowboys for not spending big in free agency, well, they spent dearly keeping Martin around, and they will be the first to tell you, money well spent. So, back off.

Well, here we are, at the end of another one of those famed Cowboys careers. And appropriately, what's the song lyric, "You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone."

The Cowboys are about to find out.

"This is a rare, rare cat," Garrett wants to emphasize. "He's something else. What a great football player, and I use that word 'privilege' around. What a person! Guy, teammate, friend, husband, father, everything.

"He's the best."

And Nate's right about Zack. Just why he, indeed is "The President."