Steelers sign recently unretired former tackles leader to active roster

Former Green Bay Packers, New York Giants and Las Vegas Raiders linebacker Blake Martinez recently came out of retirement, and a team is already signing him to their active roster.

Martinez signed a practice-squad deal with the Carolina Panthers two weeks ago. On Tuesday, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Martinez off Carolina’s practice squad and added him to their 53-man roster, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

The Packers drafted Martinez out of Stanford in the fourth round of the 2014 NFL Draft. Martinez then enjoyed four productive seasons in Green Bay. He had 144 or more combined tackles in three straight seasons with the team, leading the league in tackles in 2017. In that season he also added an interception, eight passes defensed, a forced fumble, two fumble recoveries and a sack. 

He signed with the New York Giants as a free agent in 2020, and extended his streak of consecutive seasons with at least 144 tackles to four. 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.