Raiders release RB Doug Martin from injured reserve with injury settlement

Just ahead of the deadline to cut rosters from 90 to 53 players, the Raiders placed veteran running back Doug Martin on injured reserve with a shoulder. That designation would end his season unless the two sides agreed to an injury settlement. They did that Tuesday, freeing the 30-year-old back to sign with any team once healthy.

Injury settlements are for an undisclosed number of weeks, agreed upon by both sides, usually according to how long they think the player would have taken to recover from the injury.

Reaching an Injury settlement with Martin also gives the Raiders a chance at getting him back this season should they choose to do so. However, the team can’t resign him until a minimum of three weeks passes following the amount of weeks of the initial settlement.

So, for instance, if the settlement was for one games, he can’t return to the team until after week four.

Other teams may sign Martin at any time, with the understanding that if there were still time left on his injury settlement, it would offset the settlement amount. Martin waited a long time this offseason before being brought back to the Raiders when Isaiah Crowell was lost for the season with an Achilles injury. With Martin’s 4.2 yards per carry average last season, he could be high on the list of potential free agent pickups should another team lose one of their top backs.

The Raiders also reached an injury settlement with DE Alex Barrett.