Oakland Raiders Reportedly About To Be, “All About That Action, Boss”

The Oakland Raiders have reportedly bolstered their rushing attack by luring the man called Beast Mode out of retirement to play for them.

Step One has been completed. As is being widely reported, the Oakland Raiders and un-retired running back Marshawn Lynch have agreed to terms on a deal – a deal many were saying would be performance-based and heavily incentive-laden.

And now comes Step Two – working out the paramaters of a trade with Seattle to get the deal done. Presumably, that’s going to be a quick deal as Seahawks GM John Schneier has already stated that because of his relationship with Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie, it will be a smooth, painless process.

Though, it is still a process that will very likely require surrendering a draft pick – something McKenzie is ordinarily loathe to do.

Adding lunch ostensibly fills the gaping hole in the backfield created by the free agent departure of Latavius Murray. And given the fact that the Raiders made zero effort to retain Murray – their leading rusher the last two seasons and a workhorse back – it seems increasingly likely that some back channel discussions with Lynch took place that made this scenario a reality.

However it happened, the Raiders are getting a back who once dominated the league. His toughness on the field was as legendary as his eccentricities, and the Beast Mode moniker couldn’t have been more apt.

But that was two years ago. Between the Beast Mode years and now, there was one injury-riddled season that saw him limited to just seven games and his productivity fall off the table. During the years he was destroying defenses around the league, Lynch was averaging a punishing 1339 yards a season with an average of a little better than 4.5 yards per carry.

In his last full season in the league, Lynch gained just 417 yards on 111 carries – an incredibly pedestrian 3.8 yards per carry.

After that woeful season, Lynch retired and took the entire 2016 off. As was his right – a right he earned after punishing defensive players for 10 seasons already. But now he’s back and for better or worse, the Raiders have agreed to terms on a deal with him.

The news will undoubtedly excite and energize a big section of the fanbase. And if Lynch is able to get back to his pre-2015 form, there’s good reason for that. He was one of the league’s toughest, most dynamic backs.

And perhaps, taking a year off to let his body heal and re-energize may help him accomplish that. But history tells us that running backs don’t typically get better after the age of 30. Especially after coming off an injury-riddled campaign and sitting out for a full season.

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But maybe Lynch will be the man to buck that trend. Maybe Lynch will come back stronger than ever and be the Beast Mode who helped carry the Seahawks to two Super Bowl appearances, one title, and a really horrendous play call from a second.

Maybe.

There are still a lot of question marks surrounding Lynch and what he might have left in the tank. If he’s the Lynch of old, the Raiders have got to be right up there in the conversation of Super Bowl contenders. But if he’s not, the Raiders will hopefully take another big young back in the Draft to augment their running back rotation.

But if he’s not, the Raiders will hopefully take another big young back in the Draft to augment their running back rotation. Jalen Richard and DeAndre Washington are electric and are great change of pace backs, but neither can be the team’s workhorse back.

There are a lot of still-unanswered questions – but questions we’re inching closer to getting answers to. The biggest hurdle has been cleared, and now we sit and wait to see how smoothly the process with Schneider and the Seahawks really will be.

Until then, the Raider Nation will sit and wait with bated breath.