Steelers should upgrade the linebacker position with Blake Martinez

The Steelers could have a weak link on defense in 2022 at the linebacker position. Here’s why Blake Martinez would offer an immediate upgrade.

We thought all of the big surprises around the league were going to happen during the waning hours of final roster cuts as NFL clubs were required to cut their rosters from 80 to 53 players. However, two days later, the New York Giants made an unexpected move when they released veteran linebacker, Blake Martinez.

Many Giants fans are left wondering why the team made such an extreme decision just before the start of the 2022 season. In 2020, Martinez graded out as one of the very best off-ball linebackers in the NFL, via Pro Football Focus, and he is still just 28 years old entering the 2022 season.

Martinez did miss all but three games of the 2021 season with an ACL injury, but he has since made a full recovery. When you dig a bit further, you will find that this was strictly a business move. Even after re-structuring Martinez’s contract in the offseason and eventually releasing him, the Giants are dead last in the NFL in cap space and they still need to clear roughly $5.9 million before the start of the season.

New York’s loss could be Pittsburgh’s gain. It just so happens that the Steelers have a very concerning linebacker in their starting lineup and I am very confident that Blake Martinez would be an instant upgrade.

Steelers should upgrade LB with Martinez

While it remains to be seen how Martinez will look following his ACL surgery he had last September, he is roughly a full year removed from the injury, and this does not seem to be the reason the Giants were willing to part ways with him with just over a week until the start of the season.

The Steelers didn’t hesitate to sign Myles Jack when he was released by the Jaguars early in the offseason, and I see no reason why they shouldn’t make a play for Martinez.

One of the most concerning players projected to be in Pittsburgh’s starting lineup to begin the season is former first-round pick, Devin Bush. Though he flashed early in his career with some splash plays, Bush has been an utter letdown since coming back from his own ACL injury that occurred in 2020.

This isn’t to say that Bush can’t turn things around, but it’s certainly not encouraging. What we saw from him at both training camp and the preseason this summer was incredibly underwhelming.

While there are plenty of fans out there who think that Martinez is washed up at this point in his career, I wouldn’t be so sure. In his last healthy season in 2020, I genuinely believed he was one of the better linebackers in football. Being just two years removed from that and not yet exiting the prime of his career, there’s reason to believe that would be the case again — especially if he joined a star-studded cast in Pittsburgh.

This would not feel like a ‘Joe Schobert’ move to me. Prior to acquiring Schobert via trade during the 2021 preseason, I really thought he was coming off two pretty bad years (his 2019 season with Cleveland and 2020 with Jacksonville). Martinez, on the other hand, had arguably his best season in 2020 before the ACL injury and was looking very strong. He was also one of the single-most productive linebackers in the NFL from 2017 to 2020.

I don’t think that Blake Martinez is suddenly going to fix every single issue on defense, but there’s no question in my mind that he would be a substantial upgrade from Devin Bush. Pittsburgh may have a restructure a contract to make it work, but Martinez is looking for a new home and Omar Khan should offer him one in Pittsburgh.