Can Former Top Prospect Jonathan Martin Salvage Career After 49ers Release?

UPDATE (3/27/15): It didn't take long for an NFL team to offer up chance No. 3 for Martin. As the Associated Press reported via USA Today, the Carolina Panthers claimed Martin off waivers Friday.

It's been an eventful three seasons in the NFL for offensive tackle Jonathan Martin. He's seen the highs of being an early round pick in the 2012 NFL draft, and the lows of walking away from the game amidst one of the bigger scandals to sweep through an NFL locker room over the past decade.

Now, Martin has hit a new low, as a second NFL team has shown him the door. And given everything that's happened to this point, it's become fair to wonder if another NFL club will be opening its doors for Martin anytime soon.

As ESPN's Adam Schefter reported, the San Francisco 49ers released Martin on Thursday after a single season with the team:

It wasn't supposed to be this way.

Back in 2012, NFL.com called the 6'5" 312-pound Martin one of the draft's top-two tackle prospects and a likely first-round pick:

Martin has prototypical starting skills for the tackle position. He missed just two games in his career and is extremely tough. He carries his weight well and is one of the most technically sound prospects in the draft. He has a smooth, efficient pass set that allows him to get a solid base and work from a balanced state. He is powerful and aggressive against the run and a very good foot athlete at his size. Martin was the anchor of a very polished offensive line and is simply an NFL-ready tackle who possesses all the traits.

Wes Bunting of The National Football Post, on the other hand, wasn't quite so sure:

He’s got the NFL size, length and overall athletic skill set. However, he’s not a natural anchor player and doesn’t strike me as a guy who is ever going to be real physical at the next level. He can mirror in space, but struggles to stick through contact and isn’t real heavy handed. Looks like a finesse tackle who will get over drafted because of athletic talent, but is going to have a hard time keeping the edge clean at the next level.

When the draft rolled around and Martin slid from Round 1, it appeared there were more than a few NFL teams that shared Bunting's concerns. Still, when the Miami Dolphins took Martin with the 42nd overall pick that year, many draftniks hailed it as one of that year's biggest steals.

As it turned out—not so much.

Martin was completely overwhelmed as a rookie. Yes, he started 16 games, but it was borne of necessity, not performance.

Among 80 qualifying tackles at Pro Football Focus, Martin ranked 76th. He was dead last among tackles who played over 1,000 snaps. No tackle in the NFL allowed more quarterback hurries in 2012 than Martin.

The following year, things only got worse. In seven games in 2013, Martin allowed seven sacks. Then the world caved in, with Martin leaving the Dolphins altogether amid the fallout from the locker room scandal involving him and Richie Incognito.

Martin was (of course) the victim of Incognito's wildly inappropriate and boorish behavior, but by the time the dust settled Martin was finished in Miami. Too many burned bridges on both sides.

And so it was off to San Francisco, where Martin was reunited with former Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh.

Martin's agent hailed the trade that sent Martin west while speaking with ESPN at the time:

This is great for him to get back on the field, and he's in Palo Alto right now. It couldn't be much better. I just think everyone wanted this to happen. Harbaugh knows Jonathan, I think the Dolphins were compensated and Jonathan wants to get back on the field. It's a good day.

Now, it would be nice if this was the point in the story when Martin turned things around, shook off the bullying scandal and became the elite tackle so many thought he was entering the 2012 draft.

Nope.

Granted, Martin got his second chance. Thanks to injuries on the San Francisco line, Martin wound up playing more than 650 snaps over 15 games for the 49ers in 2014.

The result? Six sacks allowed, a 60th-place ranking among offensive tackles at PFF, and his second "see ya" from an NFL team.

This, in an NFL where even so-so tackles are signed to fat contract extensions.

And so here we stand, with Martin at a career crossroads—again.

Assuming he wants to keep playing (Martin's zeal for football has been questioned dating back to his Stanford days), a third team is going to at least take a flier on Martin. Offensive linemen are quite literally worth their weight in gold in the NFL. Martin is only 25. Some team will watch that old Stanford tape of him, and fall into the same trap the Dolphins and Niners did.

Yes, the circumstances surrounding the first two years of Martin's career were hardly ideal, and that can't make it easy for a young player to acclimate to the NFL.

However, Martin wasn't in Miami last year. He was among arguably the most veteran, professional O-line in the NFL, playing under the coach for whom Martin had the best years of his playing career.

And he was still a turnstile.

Maybe it's time that turnstile just stopped spinning. And maybe it's time we just came to grips with a rather depressing realization.

For all his collegiate accolades, and all his promise, when it comes to protecting an NFL quarterback—Jonathan Martin just isn't very good.

Gary Davenport is an NFL Analyst at Bleacher Report and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and the Pro Football Writers of America. You can follow Gary on Twitter at @IDPManor.