Panthers To Re-Sign P Sam Martin

Veteran punter Sam Martin joined the Panthers on a one-year deal last March, but he will receive more security this offseason. The Panthers will retain Martin on a two-year contract worth up to $5MM, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

Carolina is the fourth NFL stop for the 36-year-old Martin, who divided his first 12 seasons among Detroit, Denver and Buffalo. Aside from a 10-game 2017 with the Lions, Martin has played at least 16 contests in every season. Martin has averaged 46.3 gross yards per punt and 41.0 net over 811 attempts.

During his first year with Carolina, Martin punted 56 times in 17 games. At 47.2 yards per attempt, he checked in just shy of the league-average mark (47.4). His 40.5 net was also a bit below the mean (41.3), though he posted the sixth-highest percentage of punts inside the 20 (48.2). Martin also punted for a touchback on just 5.4% of attempts, easily better than league-average figure of 7.7.

For the reigning NFC South champion Panthers, re-signing Martin means they will keep their 2025 special teams battery in place. Martin will again team with kicker Ryan Fitzgerald and long snapper J.J. Jansen.