The winless Carolina Panthers worked out a former star linebacker who announced his initial retirement from football a year ago.
Per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Panthers hosted former Green Bay Packers, New York Giants and Las Vegas Raiders linebacker Blake Martinez on Wednesday. The Stanford product retired last November to start up what has become a successful Pokémon card business.
Martinez was drafted by the Packers in 2016 and played for them in 2019 before joining the Giants on a three-year deal in 2020 free agency. New York released Martinez after two seasons, and he went on to play four games for Vegas last year before retiring in November.
Earlier this year, it was reported that Martinez had made a staggering $5 million over just seven months from selling Pokémon cards. According to Spotrac, Martinez made just over $28.948 million in career earnings as an NFL player.
The Panthers are football’s only winless team at 0-6. Coming off their Week 7 bye, Carolina will try to pick up its first win of the season when they host C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans this Sunday.
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For his career, Martinez has four interceptions, 22 pass defenses, four forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries. The 29-year-old posted 144-plus tackles in four consecutive years from 2017 to 2020, including a career-high 155 for the Packers in the 2019 season.
