CHARLOTTE — The Panthers are entering a new era at the punter position. The team agreed to terms with former Bills punter Sam Martin on Tuesday.

With Johnny Hekker reportedly agreeing to terms with the Tennessee Titans, Martin will come to Charlotte as the sole punter on the Panthers roster at the moment.

Get to know Martin with these fast five facts.

A Veteran Special Teamer

Martin was drafted in the fifth round of the 2013 draft by the Detroit Lions. He spent seven seasons in Detroit, where he was named to the PFWA All-Rookie team in 2013, before heading west to Denver for two seasons. His next stop was back on the Great Lakes, with the Bills from 2022-2024.

He's 35, heading into his 13th season, bringing years of experience with him to Carolina. Given his path, Martin has also punted in various climates. While the Lions play in a dome, two NFC North divisional opponents play in notoriously cold and windy places. The same is true for the Bills, where lake effect is something punters and kickers have to deal with more often than at any other NFL stadium. While in Denver, Martin kicked in the thin air present at Mile High Stadium.

While the full 2025 schedule has not yet been released, the Panthers do have three road opponents this season that post the potential to be cold weather games: the New England Patriots, New York Jets, and Green Bay Packers.

Headed Back South

While Martin has spent the past 13 years with teams above the Mason-Dixon Line, his tenure with the Panthers will bring him back to where it started.

Martin was the punter at Appalachian State, and as a senior, was named to the Associated Press All-American First Team.

Martin is a Georgia native, from Fayetteville, and lettered all four years in high school for soccer.

Focused on the 20

The Bills offense didn't force Martin to punt too often. In fact, of those punters who started every game last season, Martin punted the fifth-fewest times, a total of 54 times.

When he was on the field though, the veteran had 25 of his 54 punts downed inside the 20-yard line. That is 46 percent of his punts.

Next Gen Stats

According to Next Gen Stats, Martin had 12 punts of 50-plus yards. The fail rate on those punts was 8 percent, which was the third l-owest, ergo third best, amongst all qualifying punters (minimum 5 punts). For those with 10-plus punts of that distance, Martin's low fail rate was tied for best in the league.

His max punt distance in 2024 was 74.5 yards, and the average was 55.4 yards. His average hang time was 4.24 seconds.

Dog Dad

A quick perusal of Martin's social media makes it clear if there's one constant in the punters life, it's his dog Leo.

The doodle has been around the country wherever the NFL takes Martin, along for each adventure for a number of years now. The pup even gets in on water sports!