Bucs release Martin after a disappointing season
TAMPA, FLA. » Two-time Pro Bowl running back Doug Martin has been released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who may look for a replacement in free agency.
Martin rushed for a career-low 406 yards in 2017, when he averaged just 2.9 yards per carry after missing the first three games of the season while serving the remainder of a four-game ban for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancers.
The release comes less than two years after Martin signed a fiveyear, $35.75 million contract that would have paid him $6.75 million in 2018.
The 29-year-old was a first-round draft pick out of Boise State in 2012. He rushed for 1,454 yards and 11 touchdowns as a rookie, but was slowed by an assortment of injuries for much of the past five seasons.
Carruth apologizes for in shooting death role
Former NFL player Rae Carruth has apologized for his role in the shooting death of Cherica Adams in 2001 and the permanent disability suffered by his then-unborn son, Chancellor Adams, as a result.
Carruth is serving 18 to 24 years in prison after being found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and two other charges. He could be released Oct. 22 from Sampson Correctional Institution in Clinton, North Carolina.
In a 15-page hand-written letter and ensuing phone call to WBTV in Charlotte, Carruth apologized to Adams’ mother, Saundra Adams, for the “senseless act that led to the death of your daughter and the permanent physical difficulties that Chancellor has to suffer through.”
Carruth said he’d like custody of Chancellor one day. However, Adams told WBTV that won’t happen.
Texans release Cushing
HOUSTON » The Houston Texans have released veteran linebacker Brian Cushing, who was a firstround pick in 2009. Cushing is the franchise’s all-time leader in tackles with 664, but his career has been marked by two suspensions for violating the league’s policy on performance enhancers.
Cushing was suspended for the first four games of 2010 after testing positive for HCG, a fertility drug that is on the league’s banned substance list. Cushing had won 2009 Defensive Rookie of the Year, an honor which was jeopardized by the suspension.
His second suspension came in September and cost him 10 games.
Sources: Bears decline on Sitton, release Freeman
LAKE FOREST, ILL. » The Chicago Bears are parting with veteran guard Josh Sitton and linebacker Jerrell Freeman.
Two people familiar with the situation said the Bears have decided to decline their option on Sitton for next season and release Freeman. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity.
A four-time Pro Bowl lineman, the 31-year-old Sitton spent the past two seasons in Chicago after an eight-year run with Green Bay.
Freeman, 31, suffered a season-ending pectoral injury in the opener last year and was suspended for violating the league’s policy against performance-enhancing drugs in each of his two seasons with the Bears.
Bears DB pleads guilty Iowa bar fracas in
CEDAR FALLS, IOWA » A Bears defensive back pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors stemming from a fracas at a bar in northeast Iowa.
Deiondre’ Hall and Green Bay Packers defensive back Makinton Dorleant were arrested March 26 last year outside Sharkey’s Funhouse in Cedar Falls. A Black Hawk County court document said Hall didn’t respond to police instructions and spit in officers’ faces. Dorleant was detained after he approached officers in a threatening manner following Hall’s arrest, police said.