Marte Mapu

Career StatsC

Year	Team	GP	Tkl	Sacks	INT
Career		44	89	0.5	3
2025		17	25	0.0	1
2024		10	46	0.5	1
2023		17

Season	Team	GP	Tkl	Sacks	INT	PD	Grade
2025		17	25	0.0	1	—	D D Bottom 20%
2024		10	46	0.5	1	—	C C Around average
2023		17	18	0.0	1	—	F F Bottom 5%

Grades reflect the player's performance in each season. Header grade shows the current season.

Current Contract

Contract Value Index (CVI)

Salary-cap math on Marte Mapu's contract works out to a C+ Contract Value Index given the dead-cap exposure and term. At $1.39M AAV, Mapu occupies the basement tier of linebacker salaries—a depth piece price tag that aligns cleanly with his 2025 production: 25 tackles and one interception across 17 games, a workmanlike rotational contribution that carries no edge-setter implications. The linebacker market has reset upward in recent years, and his sub-$1.5M annual hit places him squarely in the backup-and-special-teams utility category rather than competing for starter snaps at market rate. At 26 years old and in his third season, Mapu is neither a reclamation project nor an emerging talent—he is a known quantity, a depth commodity whose floor and ceiling both occupy the same modest space. The media narrative around his acquisition to Houston underscores this reality: the trade was framed as understated housekeeping to address linebacker rotation depth, not as a defensive upgrade, and his on-field performance has done nothing to disrupt that positioning. The CVI grade reflects a defender whose contract value matches expectation—he is neither overpaid for his production nor a bargain, simply a low-cost rotational piece slotted appropriately within Houston's defensive infrastructure.

Contracts in the Same Value Band

Other same-position deals the Contract Value Index also places in the C band — a quick read on where Marte's contract sits relative to comparable money.

Performance Analysis

Tape review and box-score baselines converge on a C performance grade for Marte Mapu. The 26-year-old third-year linebacker profiles as a depth contributor rather than a franchise anchor — serviceable in his assigned role but without the playmaking consistency or coverage instincts that separate above-average starters from the rest of the position. His 2025 season line of 25 tackles and one interception across 17 games reveals a player who logged full availability but generated modest impact, with that interception off Tagovailoa representing the kind of opportunistic moment that occasionally lifts a backup's profile without reshaping how scouts evaluate his baseline performance level. The real limitation isn't durability — he stayed healthy and on the field — but rather the thinness of his statistical resume, which reads more "special teams utility with linebacker versatility" than "defensive playmaker." The New England-to-Houston trade reflects this precisely: the Patriots' ongoing defensive retooling (evidenced by recent signings and cuts reshaping their front seven) framed Mapu's departure as cleanup rather than loss, and the Texans' acquisition signals they view him as rotational insurance rather than a starter-in-waiting. Unless he strings together a stretch of games that materially exceeds the "solid depth piece" expectations set by his arrival in Houston, this C-grade trajectory has little reason to inflect upward.

How Marte Compares at the Position

Marte Mapu ranks 137th of 338 graded linebackers by performance. That slots Marte between Arden Key (C) just ahead and Ronnie Harrison Jr. (C) just behind.

Fan Sentiment

Coverage volume around Marte Mapu produces a C+ sentiment grade in the current window. Media framing around his trade from New England to Houston was decidedly muted—characterized as a low-risk, depth-oriented transaction centered on his special teams utility and linebacker versatility rather than any excitement about a defensive upgrade. The 2025 season line of 25 tackles and one interception across 17 games aligns cleanly with that modest expectation, painting the picture of a rotational piece rather than a difference-maker, which keeps his sentiment grade grounded in that middle-of-the-pack territory rather than cratering further. Recent headlines have done little to shift that narrative arc: a fumble on a fourth-down punt trick play reinforced the replacement-level framing, while his interception off Tagovailoa generated brief attention but hasn't meaningfully moved analyst or fan perception upward. What's notable is the backdrop—New England's aggressive roster churn at 14-3 (adding A.J. Brown, cutting defensive depth like Niko Lalos) frames Mapu's departure as clean housekeeping rather than a meaningful loss, which further cements his standing as a known depth commodity. Until he strings together a stretch of games that exceeds the "solid backup, special teams value" script that followed him out of New England, this narrative has no structural reason to move off the basement-tier sentiment ceiling.