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 Pokemon 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.