Carolina Panthers claim Jonathan Martin off waivers

Well, this is a little bit of a surprise. The Carolina Panthers announced on Friday that they successfully claimed Jonathan Martin off waivers. The San Francisco 49ers had waived the offensive tackle on Thursday. By claiming Martin, the Panthers are due to pay him the full $1,042,400 salary he is due for 2015. He can still be released and the team would not owe him anything, but if he sticks around, that would be his salary.

This has no bearing on the 49ers as he was completely off their books once they placed him on waivers. The team gave up a conditional seventh round pick for Martin, with the condition set at him making the Week 1 roster last year. While they will not have that seventh round pick this year, it was still a worthwhile trade. He was in over his head, but odds were pretty good a 2015 seventh round pick would not make the team. Yes, teams have found seventh round diamonds (Bruce Miller, for example), but the odds are not in the team's favor. Martin provided some depth at a position that turned out to need a lot of depth.

The 49ers now need to find their swing tackle of 2015. Erik Pears will be in the mix there and at guard, and the team signed Chris Martin to a reserve/future contract. Beyond that, they really don't have any options. Even if they think Pears will fill that role, I'd imagine the team adds one more potential tackle late in the draft, or in undrafted free agency.