Marshawn Lynch is interested in returning from retirement after all, with word that he’s visiting with the Oakland Raiders on Wednesday.
The Oakland Raiders might get their man after all. Earlier this offseason, the news leaked that the Raiders were interested in bringing in retired running back Marshawn Lynch to be their replacement for Latavius Murray, who departed in free agency for the Minnesota Vikings. Lynch is property of the Seattle Seahawks, however, and hadn’t indicated any public interest in returning. Despite the Raiders’ overture, the reality was that a few hurdles remained in the way before any real connection could be made between the rumor leak and a future reality.
Retired player Marshawn Lynch is, in fact, in the #Raiders building today… as @PatMcAfeeShow noted. Short trip from his Oakland home.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 5, 2017
Instead of denying any sort of potential return, this visit only adds considerable smoke to the fire that must be burning concerning a potential return. It’s a good move for the Raiders in terms of fan interaction, given that it brings in a hometown favorite for a team that is already headed out the door, for sure to Las Vegas and potentially even to San Antonio while they wait for a permanent Sin City home. If signing Lynch will help fill seats and ease tensions while they pack their boxes, that’s not the worst thing in the world for general manager Reggie McKenzie to consider.
That said, it’s interesting to see how much the Raiders believe Lynch has left in the tank. Lynch looked great back in 2013 and 2014, but fast forward two years and Lynch is not only older but on this side of sports hernia surgery. It’s a total guess as to whether or not Lynch could look like the player of old when the player is old.
Still for the PR play alone, the visit is worth consideration and Lynch could be an interesting add for the Raiders for sure. They called him Beast Mode for a reason, so maybe McKenzie is hoping for some leftover Seattle magic. Raiders fans just need to hope that’s not all that McKenzie does at the position this offseason.