Former Texans starter battling for shot
Texans starting center for four seasons was cut in team implosion
Not that Nick Martin ever needed any affirmation of the non-guaranteed life of an NFL player, but the swift manner in which the Houston Texans went from a playoff team with a promising future to a seemingly rudderless organization mired in a hefty rebuild was eye-opening for him.
Positioned in the middle of the startling transformation — literally, as the Texans’ starting center the past four years — Martin had a front-row seat from which to witness the rapid rise and fall of a franchise that just a couple of years ago was on solid ground.
“It can turn quickly” is how Martin sums it up.
So it was no big surprise when Martin became one of the victims of the rebuild when the Texans released him last month in a cost-cutting move.
“A lot of turnover, so I did see that coming a little bit,” Martin said.
And even less of a surprise that, upon signing a one-year deal with the Raiders, a veteran with 62 starts in his career and a resume as one of the better pass-blocking centers in the NFL arrives in Las Vegas with no promise of a starting role.
Just like he did four years ago after the Texans drafted him in the second round out of Notre Dame, Martin has to prove himself worthy of a starting job.
By now, he’s well-versed in the whole deal. “That’s the NFL; that’s all you can ask for,” he said.
Martin will compete with Andre James for the starting center job and all the pressures and expectations that come with trying to replace Rodney Hudson, a stalwart in the middle of the Raiders’ offensive line who was moved to the Arizona Cardinals last week for a third-round draft pick.
James, a promising young player the Raiders quietly have developed behind Hudson over the past two years, recently was signed to a contract extension that locks him in through 2023. Of
the $12.5 million total of the contract, James gets $6 million guaranteed.
While the new deal suggests James has a leg up on the competition, the Raiders are making it clear this will be an open audition.
Martin, who gave up one sack last year in 689 pass-block snaps and seven sacks total in 2,602 career pass snaps, has an experience edge over James, who has one career start. But the oneyear deal with a base salary of $1.1 million he inked is an indication the Raiders have faith in James.
Nevertheless, Martin isn’t about the concede anything. Besides, it was only two years ago that he signed a threeyear, $33 million deal with the Texans, with $18.35 million guaranteed. He
knows better than anyone that nothing in the NFL is set in stone.
“The NFL is hard,” said Martin, 27, the younger brother of Cowboys guard Zack Martin. “That’s why not too many people do it. It can change fast.”
James and Martin will be crosstrained at guard, according to a person close to the situation, and the runner-up will have to prove he can fill in at center and guard if need be.
That bodes well for Martin, who played 11 games at guard in his senior year at Notre Dame and practiced the position early on with the Texans.