NFL

Raiders Adding Marshawn Lynch to Potent Attack

Former Seahawks running back reportedly agrees to deal with Raiders, who also have a trade worked out with Seattle for his services

It’s no sure thing that Marshawn Lynch will be the running back he once was with the Seattle Seahawks. But the Raiders are going to give Lynch the opportunity to show he can still be that same game-changing player.

Lynch, 31, is scheduled to take his physical Wednesday as part of a deal reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter. He reports Lynch has agree to a two-year deal with Oakland to come out of retirement to play for his hometown team. Because the Seahawks still maintain the rights to Lynch – who retired following the 2015 season – the Raiders must compensate them.  The NFL Network reports the Seahawks will trade the rights to Lynch as part of a deal that will involve low-round draft choices in 2018.

“It’s getting done,” one scource told Schefter

According to Jon Becker of the Bay Area News Group, Lynch has agreed to a $3 million base salary for 2017. But that deal could bring him as much as $8.5 million if he hits certain incentives. One would be an additional $2 million if he rushes for 1,000 or more yards in 2017.

Running backs in the NFL generally start to decline in productivity after they turn 30, so it will be interesting to see what Lynch can do at age 31 after sitting out a season. In 2015, at age 29, he played just seven games for the Seahawks because of injury and carried the ball just 111 times for 417 yards. But in his four previous seasons, from 2011 through 2014, Lynch rushed for more than 1,200 yards each year and scored 12, 11, 12 and 13 touchdowns on the ground.

With the departure of Latavius Murray to the Vikings in free agency this offseason, the Raiders were in need of a power running back to complement second-year players DeAndre Washington and Jalen Richard. Now, a day before the first round of this year’s NFL draft, the Raiders have secured that back in Lynch.

Analyst Bucky Brooks of NFL.com believes Lynch has the potential to be a key factor in helping the Raiders become a Super Bowl team in 2017.

“There is no doubt in my mind that Lynch is the veteran running back the Raiders need to get over the hump,” wrote Brooks.

“The 215-pound hammer is ideally suited to play behind a ‘maul-and-mash’ offensive line that specializes in moving defenders off the ball,” wrote Brooks. “With Oakland boasting one of the league’s best offensive fronts adept at creating a push at the point of attack, the prospect of tackling a steaming locomotive would make even the most courageous defender hesitate in the hole.”

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