Packers: Four players whose future will be decided in final four games

3. Blake Martinez

Unlike Lazard, Blake Martinez‘s position on the 2020 roster is far from guaranteed. In fact, he’s not under contract beyond this season. We often see players step up in a contract year, but that hasn’t been the case for the Packers starting linebacker.

As ever, Martinez is a tackle machine. He leads the team in that category once again. That’s the positive. The negative is that he doesn’t make enough game-changing plays, and too often he’s making tackles after a running back has already picked up four or five yards.

Now, if Martinez has a strong finish to the season and makes some important plays down the stretch, it will go a long way to earning him a long-term contract in Green Bay. Or elsewhere. But if he continues to play at similar level, Gutekunst will have a difficult decision to make in the offseason. Re-sign Martinez and build around him, or start from scratch at inside linebacker?

Martinez is on pace for a career-high in tackles, but he only has nine sacks in four seasons and is on pace for fewer sacks this season than in 2018. But a strong finish in the final four weeks could make the difference when it comes to the offseason.