Marshawn Lynch is ready to return to football after a one-year retirement and play in the city where he grew up.
Lynch, who visited the Raiders today, told the team he’s ready to un-retire and play for them this year, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.
The Seahawks will have something to say about that. Although Seattle gave Oakland permission to talk to Lynch, he remains on the Seahawks’ reserve/retired list, which means the Raiders can only trade for him, not sign him. Presumably the Seahawks are willing to do that or else they wouldn’t have given the Raiders permission to talk to him, but until a deal is reached between the Seahawks and the Raiders, no deal can be reached between the Raiders and Lynch.
If Lynch tried to force the Seahawks into releasing him he might be able to do so simply by un-retiring and reporting for work. Under his current contract, he’d be due a $9 million salary this year, which would make him the highest-paid running back currently under contract in the NFL. It’s very unlikely that the Seahawks who are already deep with running backs Eddie Lacy, Thomas Rawls, CJ Prosise and Alex Collins on the team, want to add another running back to their roster. So if Lynch were to report, Seattle would probably cut him.
But the simpler way to do it would be for the Raiders and Seahawks to agree on some sort of compensation that would allow Lynch to join the Raiders immediately. He’s ready to go, and Oakland is ready to sign him.