Giants LB Blake Martinez out for season with torn ACL

Blake Martinez‘s season is over. On Monday morning, the Giants linebacker was diagnosed with a torn ACL (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo).

This was the immediate fear after Martinez was forced out of Sunday’s game with a non-contact injury. It’s a bad blow for the Giants, on the heels of their latest defeat and a gruesome leg injury for offensive lineman Nick Gates. The Giants are now 0-3, without two of their team captains for the rest of the year.

Martinez moved on from the Packers last year to ink a three-year, $30.75M deal with the Giants. Installed as the Giants’ left inside linebacker, he tallied 151 tackles, three sacks, five passes defensed, two forced fumbles and one interception in his Big Blue debut. This year, he’ll finish with 23 stops in three games.

Martinez, 28 in January, will focus on recovery as he looks ahead to his next walk year in 2022. In theory, the Giants will have an escape hatch once Martinez gets medical clearance next year. He’s due to carry a $14M cap number, but they can save $8.525M with $5.5M in dead money if they drop him. But, given his production while healthy, they’ll likely keep him in the fold.