The Pittsburgh Steelers are in the midst of a playoff race and are making several changes to the coaching staff and roster. That includes the firing of offensive coordinator Matt Canada, and now the signing of linebacker Blake Martinez.
The Steelers plucked Martinez from the Carolina Panthers practice squad. He'll be placed on Pittsburgh's 53-man roster, according to Adam Schefter.
After the injuries to Cole Holcomb and Kwon Alexander, the Steelers were thin at the linebacker position. In desperate need of some help, they convinced former Steeler Myles Jack to come out of retirement to play the rest of the season. Now Pittsburgh signed another veteran who had hung up his cleats.
Martinez retired at the age of 28 in November 2022 and started to sell rare Pokemon cards. After running into some trouble with his streaming channel, Martinez decided to make a return to football less than a year after he retired.
Article Continues BelowHe signed with the Panthers practice squad but finds himself back on an active NFL roster just two weeks after his comeback. He'll now get a chance to play in another NFL regular season game with the Steelers.
Blake Martinez was one of the best linebackers in the NFL not too long ago. He led the league in tackles in 2017 and did not miss a game from 2017-2020. During that span, he recorded 594 tackles, 34 for loss, 18 pass deflections, four forced fumbles and three interceptions.
Martinez has played in only seven games since the end of the 2020 season. What will he have left in the tank and if he does have a lot, how will he use it over the next seven weeks? The Steelers hope he uses it to be the player he was three years ago.