I know. This headline reads like it’s out of The Onion. But it’s real. Last week A month ago, the Raiders signed Blake Martinez to a free agent contract. Last week he came in for the injured Divine Deablo and saw a season-high 63 snaps and led the team with 11 tackles. And with Deablo sent to injured reserve, Martinez may have been in line to get more snaps the rest of the way as well.
Instead, he has abruptly retired as he announced on his instagram page.
And to top things off, #Raiders LB Blake Martinez has retired. He missed practice yesterday due to personal reasons and now we know why. I probably wouldn't keep playing football if I had millions in Pokemon cards, either! pic.twitter.com/txVMHEKD4s
— Tashan Reed (@tashanreed) November 10, 2022
Martinez came into the league in 2016 as a fourth round pick out of Stanford. He played four seasons in Green Bay, the final three of which starting every single game.
The past two seasons he has played under Patrick Graham with the New York Giants, which is what had him on the Raiders’ radar this season. But it was a short-lived reunion.
This announcement comes within hours of both Darren Waller and Hunter Renfrow being sent to injured reserve and a day after Johnathan Abram was waived. So, needless to say, it’s been a day of turnover for the Raiders.
