Fins & Martin Move On From Scandal
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Less than three years after he was picked in the second round of the NFL Draft, Jonathan Martin was traded to the San Francisco 49ers for a conditional seventh-round pick that is only given to Miami if Martin is on the roster.
Martin's nightmare in Miami is over and the Dolphins' nightmare with Martin is over as well. For Martin, he will be reuniting with his college head coach Jim Harbaugh in San Francisco. Dolphins owner Stephen Ross helped facilitate the trade to somewhere Martin wanted to play.
Martin walked out on the Dolphins on October 28, 2013 and didn't return to the team. He went public with allegations of harassment and verbal abuse from his teammates, which was later confirmed in an independent report by investigator Ted Wells.
The Dolphins franchise was rocked to the core by Martin's allegations. His claims led to the Dolphins suspending and not trying to re-sign Richie Incognito and played a part in the Fins letting John Jerry walk away from the team in free agency.
The Fins may also suffer from the Martin scandal at the beginning of the 2014 season if center Mike Pouncey is suspended by the league for his part in the harassment.
It's quite a precipitous fall for Martin who at this time last year was considered to be the Dolphins' new starting left tackle. He quickly failed in that role and was demoted to right tackle before eventually walking away from the team amid the harassment allegations.
Martin will go from being a two-year starter in Miami to being a backup in San Francisco. The 49ers have standout tackles Joe Staley and Anthony Davis as starters and two standout guards as well. Martin will be able to fade into the background and try to resurrect his career.
Moving Martin out of Miami was the best move for all parties involved. He gets to restart his career under his former college head coach and the Dolphins get to move ahead with a completely revamped offensive line.
It was an ugly situation that stained everyone involved, but for the first time since last October, all of the parties involved can finally move ahead and put the scandal behind them.