Raiders radio announcer Greg Papa hinted on his show Thursday that Oakland is looking to lure a running back out of retirement to bolster their offense.
“They are talking to a certain running back,” Papa said on 95.7 The Game, via the San Jose Mercury News. “I’ll have to hold this for tomorrow. . . . He did not even play in the NFL last year.”
That immediately led to speculation that it could be Marshawn Lynch, who’s from the area and has said he always wanted to play for the Raiders. Lynch, however, has indicated that he’s done playing. And the Seahawks would still have the rights to Lynch if he were to come out of retirement, so the Raiders could only acquire him in a trade, not as a free agent signing.
Other well-known veterans who didn’t play in an NFL game last year but at least in theory could be back include Ray Rice, Karlos Williams, Bryce Brown, Pierre Thomas and Rashard Mendenhall.
Papa said he would have more to say on Friday’s show, which is odd: If he has legitimate news that the Raiders are going to sign someone, he should want to report it before a competitor does. So there may not be much to this. But it’s at least possible that the replacement for Latavius Murray will be someone no one is thinking about.