FRISCO – Some were predicting that Dallas Cowboys pending free agent guard Zack Martin was planning an offseason jump away from “America’s Team.”

And he is. But not like some thought.

Until recently, the truth was, Martin, the nine-time Pro Bowler and seven-time first-team All-Pro and one of the best interior offensive linemen of his generation, wasn’t even ready to make his own prediction.

Martin did a media appearance at the Super Bowl recently in New Orleans and spoke about his future. He’s got a timetable of sorts.

And the way he saw it, he was facing three options.

“First off, I want to try to get healthy,” Martin said, adding that he will 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.”

So there was the timetable.

And the options?

“What I will try to do now is figure out what the next chapter of my life looks like,” Martin said. “Whether that’s playing football in Dallas, playing football somewhere else, retiring, whatever that may be.

“We’re just trying to figure that out.”

But on Thursday? It seems the all-time great has indeed “figured it out” as per a report from NFL.com that states that Martin has informed the Cowboys of his final decision to hang ’em up.

Martin, who will turn 35 next November, had earned the right, like other Cowboys before him, to attempt to work something out with the Joneses. … and the former first-round pick from Notre Dame who has become an institution here inside The Star and across the NFL also earned the right to take his time in considering his future.

Eventually, he’s going to the Hall of Fame. But before that?

There were three options to consider. And Zack Martin has chosen to say goodbye.