Raiders radio announcer Greg Papa said on Thursday that the team had interest in acquiring a retired running back who didn’t play in the NFL last season.
The first name that popped into most heads was likely Marshawn Lynch, who retired from the Seahawks after the 2015 season, and that feeling appears to be the correct one. Adam Schefter and Josina Anderson of ESPN report that the Raiders are “strongly considering” a move to acquire Lynch.
Lynch’s rights still belong to the Seahawks, so bringing him to play in his hometown of Oakland will require either a trade or a release. The former would seem more likely as the Seahawks would surely prefer to get compensation for Lynch’s rights.
There’s also the matter of Lynch’s interest in returning to play, although it’s been discussed before and it’s hard to believe the Raiders going too far with their consideration of adding Lynch to their backfield if they didn’t have some idea about his willingness to be about that action again after sitting out last season.
As the Seahawks still control his rights, getting that information directly from Lynch or his representatives would be tampering absent permission from Seattle. That’s one of the things that will have to get ironed out if things are going to progress to Lynch returning to football in Oakland.