The Green Bay Packers are starting a new era at inside linebacker.
The team agreed to a two-year deal with veteran linebacker Christian Kirksey on Monday, likely signaling the end of Blake Martinez’s four-year career in Green Bay.
Kirksey, 27, has experience with Packers defensive coordinator Mike Pettine and will almost certainly become the new leader in the middle of Pettine’s defense. Meanwhile, Martinez is about to dive headfirst into unrestricted free agency, and with Kirksey in Green Bay and so many other teams flush with cap space, it’s increasingly unlikely Martinez’s journey will lead him back to Lambeau Field.
By any measure, Martinez outperformed his draft slot and became a valuable player for the Packers, both on the field and off it.
A fourth-round pick from Stanford in 2016, Martinez started 57 games and played in 61 out of a possible 64 regular season games over his four seasons with the Packers. He produced 512 total tackles, including an NFL-high 443 between 2017-19, plus 10 sacks, three interceptions, two forced fumbles and 29 tackles for losses.
Over the last three seasons, Martinez played in every game and was on the field for almost 98 percent of the defense’s total snaps.
He was just as dependable off the field.
In 2019, the Packers picked Martinez as the team’s nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award, noting his many contributions to local communities.
“One of the things I wanted to get into once I got my feet underneath me in the NFL was being able to help out anybody, whether it be kids, adults, high school, whomever,” Martinez said. “To be a good role model, help out the less fortunate, and use my platform for the greater good. It’s just a testament that doing the right things always ends up helping yourself and the other person out. This nomination gives me more and more motivation to keep doing what I’m doing.”
Now, Martinez should be paid handsomely in free agency, but the team signing the check isn’t likely to be the Packers.
It’s possible the Packers will make another move at inside linebacker, either in free agency or the draft, but signing Kirksey could easily be the team’s one big investment at the position, especially with Martinez, Cory Littleton, Joe Schobert and Nick Kwiatkoski all expected to reach or exceed Kirksey’s $8 million per year average on the open market.
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