The Green Bay Packers saw an outstanding first year for head coach Matt LaFleur, finishing the regular season with a 13-3 record and making it to the NFC Championship Game. It seemed as though they had to grind out a lot more “ugly” wins, as quarterback Aaron Rodgers would say, than we are used to seeing from the perennial playoff franchise. But in the NFL, a win is a win no matter how you arrive there.
The Packers go into this offseason with 21 total players hitting free agency, 14 of them unrestricted. It will be interesting to see who they decide to bring back and who they decide to let walk as they sit in the bottom third of the league in available cap with a little under $24 million to work with.
One of those unrestricted free agents is linebacker Blake Martinez. Drafted in the fourth round by the Packers out of Stanford University, Martinez has been a very good player in the middle of that defense the last three years. He started all 16 games every year outside of his rookie season and has been a reliable source at the position.
At only 26 years old, Martinez will be one of the top linebackers on the market this coming free agency and there are plenty of teams in need of young talent at an ever expanding position. But is it in their best interest to bring him back? Here are the pros and cons that lie ahead for the Packers when it comes to Martinez.
