Former Green Bay Packers linebacker Blake Martinez is giving the NFL another shot.
Martinez has signed a practice-squad deal with the Carolina Panthers, according to Jordan Schultz of Bleacher Report.
Sources: Veteran LB Blake Martinez is coming out of retirement and is signing with the #Panthers, sources tell @BleacherReport.
Martinez, who has over 700 career tackles and 39 TFLs, was last with the Raiders after spending his first six years with the Packers and Giants. pic.twitter.com/3SpZlQMPHt
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) November 6, 2023
A fourth-round pick out of Stanford in 2016, Martinez enjoyed four productive seasons in Green Bay. He had 144 or more combined tackles in three straight seasons with the team before signing with the New York Giants as a free agent in 2020.
Martinez suffered a torn ACL early on in the 2021 season and was released by the Giants during the preseason the following year. He signed with the Raiders midway through the 2022 season and was with the team for only a month before announcing his retirement.
After he retired, Martinez opened up in an interview about how he had found success with a Pokemon card business. He said he did not want to “keep destroying my body” by playing in the NFL and was more passionate about running his business than playing football.
Martinez said his Pokemon card business brought in more than $11 million in 2022, so it is unclear if it remains that lucrative today. Either way, he has decided he wants to play football again.
