Blake

Martinez

Martinez is an NFL vet turned Pokémon Master who retired last November after a seven-year career. After Martinez and his company was accused of scamming buyers, a return to the league seemed like the next logical option. The former fourth-round pick has 700 career tackles and 39 TFLs to his name and started four games for the Raiders last season before stepping away. Martinez will have a chance to help improve a Panthers defense that’s ranked 31st in points allowed once he gets up to speed.

Martinez retired last season to run a company selling Pokémon cards. His company was accused of scamming buyers earlier this year, and Martinez is now looking to make a comeback into the NFL. He got his release from the Raiders last week and worked out for the Panthers Wednesday. The 29-year-old Martinez amassed 706 career tackles and is looking to be a serviceable defender again.

He led Las Vegas in linebacker snaps last week with Divine Deablo getting hurt early in the game, but it apparently was more about Martinez being interested in other pursuits. Martinez had a Pokemon collection that netted $672,000 at auction. He finishes his NFL career with 84 games, 706 career tackles, and 39 tackles for loss, mostly with the Packers and Giants.

This is surprising because the Ravens have actually kept quite a few linebackers active the past few weeks, but perhaps they consider Martinez an upgrade on what they’ve been using. Martinez only played 142 snaps last year, but has graded as a positive in coverage per PFF numbers in 2018 and 2020.

Coming off a torn ACL, Martinez restructured his contract in the spring, but that still wasn’t enough for the Giants’ new brain trust. It is confusing after Martinez’s restructure, but reporter Art Stapleton believes Martinez’s release frees up roughly $3.5 million in additional cap space. It also leaves behind $4 million in dead money. Martinez was a solid defensive contributor as recently as 2020, so if he can prove his health, he might not take long to find a new job on the workout circuit.

Martinez’s four-year streak of more than 140 tackles comes to an end. Martinez’s season-ending injury, suffered Sunday against the Falcons, is a major setback for a middling New York defense. Winless after three games and losing a key defensive player is not what Joe Judge -- or anyone in the organization -- had in mind after a 2020 playoff run in the worst division in NFL history.

This comes as good news for Toney, who will be fighting for practice reps with Darius Slayton and Sterling Shepard. Toney was considered an extremely raw prospect coming out of Florida so his limited time in practice might be even more valuable than most rookies. He doesn’t project for a consistent role as a rookie but could be schemed touches in a variety of ways. Toney remains off the fantasy radar for now but is a player worth monitoring throughout the summer. The Giants put linebacker Blake Martinez and sagety Josh Kalu on the reserve/COVID-19 list at the same time.

Martinez was reportedly seeking $10 million annually and Giants GM Dave Gettleman was more than happy to oblige. The 26-year-old has started 61-of-64 games since joining the Packers as a fourth-round selection in 2016, garnering Pro Football Focus’ No. 36 coverage grade among 99 qualified linebackers just last year. He’s the second big free agent splash for the Giants since the legal tampering window opened Monday afternoon, joining ex-Panthers CB James Bradberry on that side of the ball.

Martinez is reportedly looking for at least $10 million annually, which would put him among the league’s top-10 highest-paid LBs. The four-year veteran has started 61-of-64 games with the Packers since being drafted in the fourth round of the 2016 draft. Martinez has racked up at least 140 tackles in each of the past three seasons, and PFF graded him as the league’s No. 36 LB in coverage among 99 qualified players in 2019.

That would put Martinez in the top-10 middle linebacker salaries. It’s in line with his market value, though Green Bay wants to play Martinez closer to $8 million. Martinez has been a tackling machine for the Packers, playing 99 percent of snaps the last two seasons. The Packers have been linked to free agent Joe Schobert as a Martinez replacement if talks break down.