Doug Martin out of rehab, back with Buccaneers for offseason workouts
When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers started their offseason workouts on Monday, their starting running back joined them.
Doug Martin, who was suspended for four games late last season for violating the league’s drug policy, was at the Buccaneers’ facilities for the first day of the team’s offseason program. Many teams around the NFL started their offseason workouts Monday.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said Martin was out of rehab “and in a good place.”
It was reported last December that Martin’s issues were due to Adderall use. Martin served one game of his suspension last season and it will carry over to the first three games this season.
Martin signed a five-year, $35.75 million contract last offseason, but then had a bad 2016 season. Because of the suspension, guarantees in Martin’s contract were voided including a $7 million base salary this season. Since his salary isn’t guaranteed anymore, and he’s coming off an injury-marred season in which he averaged just 2.9 yards per carry and was dealing with issues off the field, that created speculation about whether he’d be with the Bucs in 2017. The team has said it hasn’t made a decision on his future yet.
Martin has had a strange career. He has two fantastic 1,400-yard seasons, and three bad years in which he had 1,371 yards combined.
The Buccaneers could draft a replacement at running back, or even sign a free agent (Adrian Peterson, anyone?) and then reassess what they’d like to do with Martin.
As for now, Martin is with the team and working out, which has to be a positive step for his future in Tampa Bay.
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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