It’s been a roller-coaster ride of a season for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, to say the least. Before the season, this young team was a sexy pick to win the NFC South and for good reason. Jameis Winston was entering his second season, the defense showed signs of being disruptive, and Doug Martin was coming off a career year.

Unfortunately, barring a miracle this weekend, the Bucs will miss the playoffs for the ninth straight year. One of their major disappointments has been the play of Martin. Last year, Martin averaged a career-high 4.9 yards per carry compared to a career low 2.9 this season.

Things are so bad to the point head coach Dirk Koetter elected to call Martin a healthy scratch over the weekend against the New Orleans Saints. The decision turned plenty of heads, which has people wondering if Martin will play in the season finale against the Carolina Panthers.

“Right now, I’m not going to say anything about who’s going to play this week because I don’t want to do Carolina any favors as to who we’re going to play,” Koetter said. “As you said, last week, we made a decision for the Saints game based on what I thought was best for our team that week. We’ll do the same thing this week.

“There’s other decisions like that made every week, just this one was a little higher profile.”

During the offseason, Martin agreed to a five-year deal worth $35.75 million.

Source: Tampa Bay Times