Blake Martinez signed a three-year, $30 million contract with the New York Giants. Martinez, a Stanford product, spent the 2019 season with the Green Bay Packers.
#Giants have agreed to terms with LB Blake Martinez, source says
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 17, 2020
Blake Martinez and New York Giants Agree to Deal
Marinez was drafted #131 overall by the Green Bay Packers in 2016 out of Stanford. While in college, Martinez started for two years as a linebacker for the Cardinal. In 2015, he was named First-Team All-Pac-12 Team.
He signed a four-year contract with the Packers that was worth $2,723,393. In his tenure with Green Bay, the 26-year-old linebacker played 61 games in which he had three interceptions, 10 sacks, and 512 combined tackles.
Last off-season, Green Bay made a huge splash in free agency to improve their defense. While the defense made strides in 2019, there is still room to grow. Packers general manager, Brian Gutekunst, expressed a desire to get younger and faster on defense. In regards to Martinez, the general manager said, “Obviously, Blake Martinez is up, and I think we’re going have to take a long look at the inside linebacker thing, make sure we’re squared away there.”
Although Martinez set a franchise record with 203 tackles in 2019, he only had three sacks, one interception, and one forced fumble. Even though he leads the team in tackles, he doesn’t make the huge impact that Preston Smith and Za’Darius Smith make on the field. In the 2019 season alone, Preston and Za’Darius (known as the “Smith Brothers”) racked up a combined 25.5 sacks.
Following the Packers loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Martinez gave a tearful interview. He expressed how much he has loved playing in Green Bay and wants to come back. Despite his impressive stats, Martinez doesn’t contribute like the team needs. The linebacker seems to focus all of his energy on tackles, leaving the rest of his stats lacking.
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