The Jacksonville Jaguars made a host of moves on Tuesday ahead of their game against the Atlanta Falcons on Saturday afternoon. In their effort to keep the roster under the 80-man limit that went into effect in the afternoon, they parted ways with several players who may be likely to catch on elsewhere in the coming days.
Among those who were waived was veteran guard Wes Martin, who seemed to be gaining traction as the backup to newly lineman Brandon Scherff in the middle of the Jaguars’ front-five. He and Scherff had previously been teammates as members of the Washington Football Team, who drafted Martin in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft.
Though Scherff got paid handsomely by Jacksonville earlier this year as a free agent addition, Martin wasn’t so lucky. His path to the Jaguars’ preseason roster started as a waiver claim in May, eventually leading to the team’s decision to waive him following their loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday.
As a former mid-round pick, Martin clearly has the talent to make it in the NFL, but he’ll need to find his next contract with another team if he intends to see the field this season. Teams around the league are in the process of cutting their rosters down to 53 players before the regular season, but as injuries become more of a factor, underdog talents like Martin could get their shot to prove their worth in new situations.
The University of Indiana product has started 11 games in his NFL career, five of which were as a rookie in Washington following a season-ending injury to the aforementioned Scherff in 2019.
With Martin on waivers, rookie Nick Ford is expected to move into the second-string position behind Scherff at right guard, with newly acquired lineman Cole Van Lanen likely to provide some competition as soon as he sees the field for Jacksonville this week.
