Green Bay Packers Surprisingly Cut LB Kamal Martin

The Green Bay Packers, as well as every other NFL team, have to trim their rosters from 85 players down to 80 by the 3:00 CST deadline on Tuesday the 24th. And the Packers have already begun that process in what is a very surprising move.

According to Rob Demovsky of ESPN, the Green Bay Packers have cut second-year linebacker, Kamal Martin.

During his rookie training camp, Martin was noted as being one of the better linebackers on the field. Unfortunately, an injury would detail the start of his season.

When it was all said and done, Martin was on the field for 208 defensive snaps in 2020, coming away with four pressures, 24 tackles, and he allowed four receptions on five targets for 36 yards, according to PFF ($$).

We certainly saw flashes from Martin during that span, as he flew around the field making plays at the line of scrimmage. However, we also saw quite a bit of inconsistency, misdiagnosed plays, and someone who could be over aggressive, which caused him to miss a lot of tackles. According to PFF, Martin’s missed tackle rate of 20 percent was the third most among linebackers.

Coming into this season, Martin was expected to compete for the starting linebacker role, but obviously, that didn’t happen. He again battled injuries, missing valuable practice time, and the team even tried him out at edge rusher in practice—which should have been our first sign that something was up.

Then this past Saturday in his first preseason game, Martin looked lost, blowing a coverage assignment on a crosser, missing a special teams tackle that led to a big run, and missing another tackle on defense as well, among other things.

If grades are your thing, Martin was graded as the second-worst Packers’ defender that game by PFF, which helps illustrate the issues highlighted above.

Still, with all of that said, this comes as quite the shock. But it’s been clear that De’Vondre Campbell and Krys Barnes are going to be the starting linebackers, while Martin fell behind Ty Summers and Oren Burks, as he worked with the third-team defense. Add in rookie Isaiah McDuffie, and Martin very well could have been the sixth linebacker on the depth chart.

With this move, the Green Bay Packers save $780,000 in cap space, according to Over the Cap, and as noted above, there will be four more cuts to follow.