The former New York Giants linebacker Blake Martinez has a new home.
According to The Score’s Jordan Schultz, the Las Vegas Raiders are signing ex-Giants defender Blake Martinez to a one-year deal. He’ll be reunited with former Giants defensive coordinator Patrick Graham.
The Giants restructured Martinez’s deal this offseason after the veteran suffered a season-ending ACL injury just three games into 2021. New York, however, decided to waive him before Week 1.
He had a tryout with the Baltimore Ravens and Raiders two weeks ago and remained a free agent through the first four weeks of the season.
The Raiders were in need of linebackers due to losing Denzel Perryman to a concussion in Week 4.
It shouldn’t be a surprise to see Martinez scooped up by the 1-3 Raiders.
Diving More into Martinez’s History
Martinez began his career with the Green Bay Packers back in 2016. He had three straight seasons of 144 plus total tackles before signing a three-year contract worth $30 million in 2020.
The Stanford product started 16 games for the Giants in 2020, posting 151 tackles and recording three sacks. However, he played just three games in 2021 after tearing his ACL.
The veteran defender was given a pay cut to return to the Giants in March.
But it seemed that the new Giants coaching staff wasn’t buying into Martinez even after making a full recovery and participating in training camp and preseason games. He was cut in September before Week 1.
Giant’s new defensive coordinator Wink Martindale runs a pressure-filled scheme and Martinez doesn’t have pass-rushing as one of his attributes. Yet, he was the only proven inside linebacker on the roster. In previous seasons, former defensive coordinator Patrick Graham gave Martinez the green-dot helmet, signaling in the defensive calls to Martinez. Safety Xavier McKinney was given the defensive call responsibilities once Martindale came aboard.
The Giants have been cap-strapped due to the previous Dave Gettleman regime. The release of Martinez isn’t helping much in terms of cap relief. He was due a $1.25 million guaranteed base salary in 2022 and had a prorated signing bonus of $6.25 million on the books. According to OverTheCap, the Giants saved just $176,471 with a dead money hit of $7.5 million.
Current Giants Linebacker Core
Emphasis was put on Tae Crowder once the Giants decided to release Martinez before the season. And it wasn’t pretty early on for the third-year defender. Crowder only had 14 tackles in the team’s first three games while being on the field for 95% of the Giants’ defensive snaps.
Things shaped nicely for Crowder in Week 4 as he finished with a team-leading 11 tackles that included a sack. He was everywhere in his 62 defensive snaps.
“I’m a guy who just wants to win. If I’m drained or not, if I’m out there I’m trying to win. Whether I’m tired or not, I’m going to keep going. I’m just trying to do whatever the team needs me to do and yeah, I’m just trying to be the best version of myself,” Crowder told reporters, via Giants Wire.
New addition Jaylon Smith played 31 snaps and finished with seven tackles in his 2022 debut. Depth rookie Micah McFadden also posted four tackles, giving the linebacker group a total of 22 tackles on 62 plays.
The Giants signed A.J. Klein to the team’s practice squad on Monday as he brings nine years of NFL experience. He is likely to be elevated in time for their Week 5 game against the Green Bay Packers in London.
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