Oakland Raiders: If Lynch Wants To Play, He Needs To Be Realistic
By Kevin Saito
The Oakland Raiders were thought to be close to a deal with the possibly former Seattle Seahawks running back – a deal now believed to be held up because of money.
Many think the Oakland Raiders need Marshawn Lynch more than Marshawn Lynch needs the Raiders. And while it’s true the Raiders need a running back to fill the gaping hole left by the departure of Latavius Murray, that running back doesn’t need to be Marshawn Lynch. Which means that if Lynch truly does want to play for his hometown team, he’s going to need to start being realistic.
What looked like a very-close-to-being-done-deal a week ago, now seems to have cooled off considerably. The hold up? The thing that usually holds up these types of deals – money.
Lynch – if he were to come out of retirement – would be owed a cool $9 million by Seattle. It seemed a given that he would take less to play in Oakland, but Lynch is apparently balking at how much less the team wants him to take.
According to Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie is looking at a $3 million dollar deal for Lynch, while the enigmatic running back reportedly wants $4.5 million to don the Silver and Black.
Given the fact that Oakland let Murray walk away as a free agent, not even bothering to make an offer, it seemed that McKenzie was looking to go cheaper at the position. And with Murray signing a deal that with the Vikings that will pay him roughly $3 million this year, it doesn’t make sense for McKenzie to go north of that.
Not even for Lynch.
Let’s face facts. Lynch is now a 31-year old running back with a lot of miles on those tires. Given his bruising, physical style of play, one has to wonder how much tread really is left on those wheels and whether or not he can sustain another season of pounding.
Especially after a year away from the game and even more so, because of his last full season in the league – an injury-marred affair that saw him gain just over 400 yards on an incredibly paltry average of 3.8 yards per carry.
Simply put, at this moment in time, Marshawn Lynch is not worth $4.5 million dollars. He very well may not even be worth $3 million at this point.
Though some will undoubtedly disagree, that $3 million McKenzie is reportedly open to paying Lynch would have been better spent on Murray. He’s younger, fresher, already knows the system – and has already had success in it.
No, Murray is not Beast Mode and doesn’t have the gravitas that comes with the name, but the Raiders don’t actually need that. They need somebody who can perform within the system – and Murray proved that he could.
But, water under the bridge and all that. Dealing with the here and now, the reality is that this year’s draft class at running back is deep. The Raiders will be able to get a younger, more cost effective, impact player at some point in the Draft.
If Lynch doesn’t stop yanking McKenzie’s chain, he’s going to find that he not only will not be earning $4.5 million this year, he won’t be earning $3 million from the Raiders either.
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Though not set in stone, McKenzie has set the Draft as an artificial deadline for Lynch to come back down to reality. Or decide he’s not all in after all.
"“At some point, you would like to know. Prior to the draft is that point.”"
And with the Draft just days away now, the clock is ticking. Very loudly.
The Raiders need a running back. But with a draft class as loaded as this year’s, they’ll be able to find value and talent even in the later rounds. They’ll be able to find a back who can perform in the system and be a productive part of the ground game.
They certainly don’t need to overpay for an aging running back with more questions than answers about what he really has left in the tank.
And the sooner Lynch figures that out and faces the reality of the situation, the better it will be for all involved. The Raiders need a running back, but that running back doesn’t need to be Marshawn Lynch.