With guard Richie Incognito apparently done in Miami, the question becomes whether tackle Jonathan Martin is, too.
For Incognito, the team reportedly has decided to sever ties. For Martin, it’s not known whether the locker room will welcome him back.
“NFL policy prohibits retaliation and will not tolerate any attempt at retaliation against any person, who, in good faith, makes or assists in making a complaint under our policies,” league spokesman Brian McCarthy tells PFT via email.
Those words sound good on paper, and they tend to make the lawyers happy. But what the rules require and what teams will tolerate can be two different issues.
With Martin, some players -- and some coaches -- won’t want a guy who blew the whistle on a teammate. In Miami, that could make it awkward to bring him back. It also could make Martin undesirable in the eyes of other players and other teams.
While players and coaches and organizations should not be influenced by the fact that Martin “told on” Incognito, some will. Veteran personnel executive Scott Pioli acknowledged during Monday’s edition of Pro Football Talk on NBCSN that, even though it would be inappropriate to hold Martin’s decision to blow the whistle on Incognito against Martin, some teams would shy away from him because of it.
The Dolphins may have no choice but to keep Martin, at least through the expiration of his rookie deal. After the 2015 season, he’d hit the open market -- and teams then would have to decide whether to pursue Martin.
Right or wrong, some won’t want to have anything to do with him.