Lynch will remain with Raiders this year
Though nothing concrete indicated Marshawn Lynch wouldn’t return to the Raiders for next season, some speculated the running back as a potential cut under Jon Gruden given his contract carries no dead money against the cap, among other reasons.
Well, Lynch will be a Raider in 2018, and a telling sign will kick in today. According to NFL Network, Lynch will receive his $1 million roster bonus previously scheduled to come March 18. As his head coach has expressed desire for before, Lynch will be the feature back in Oakland’s offense during Year 1 under Gruden.
“Looking at the film in a game that I broadcasted on Christmas night, there’s no question he’s still a beast,” Gruden said at the NFL combine last month. “He’s hard to bring down. One of the reason’s I’m excited to be with the Raiders is to join forces with Lynch. But, we’ll see what happens. Obviously, we have to take a look at the entire roster, but I’m counting on him. I’m counting on him being a big part of our football team.”
The Raiders signed veteran running back Doug Martin on Thursday, meaning Oakland’s running backs corps currently consists of Lynch, Martin, Deandre Washington and Jalen Richard. Martin figures to be the No. 2 behind Lynch, who is coming off a second half of 2017 that placed him among the most effective running backs in the NFL.
From weeks 9-14, Lynch ran for five touchdowns in five games. Twice he amassed over 100 yards on the season, in Weeks 13 and 17. For the first half of the season, Lynch was largely ineffective, then he earned a one-game suspension after charging off the sideline and shoving a referee against the Chiefs in Week 7. The veteran turned his whole season around upon his return to the field, potentially altering the outlook on his future in Oakland.
DALLAS – Another NCAA Tournament prayer answered for Loyola-chicago, and the Ramblers are set to bring Sister Jean to the Sweet 16.
Clayton Custer’s jumper took a friendly bounce off the rim and in with 3.6 seconds left, and 11th-seeded Loyola beat Tennessee 63-62 in a South Region second-round game Saturday night.
Custer’s winner came two days after Donte Ingram’s buzzer-beating 3 for Loyola against Miami, surely to the delight of Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, the 98-year-old nun, team chaplain and primary booster watching from her wheelchair on a platform near the main TV cameras.
“The only thing I can say, glory to God for that one,” Custer said. “The ball bounced on the rim and I got a good bounce.”
The Ramblers (30-5), who won the Missouri Valley tournament, broke the school record for wins set by the 1963 NCAA championship team. Loyola will play the winner of today’s game between Cincinnati and Nevada in the regional semifinals Thursday in Atlanta.
No. 3 seed Tennessee (26-7) took its only lead of the second half on three-point play by Grant Williams with 20 seconds remaining. After Loyola almost lost the ball on an out-of-bounds call confirmed on replay, Custer dribbled to his right, pulled up and let go a short jumper that hit the front of the rim, bounced off the backboard and went in.
A last-gasp shot from the Vols’ Jordan Bone bounced away, and Custer threw the ball off the scoreboard high above the court as he was mobbed by teammates in the same spot that the Ramblers celebrates Ingram’s dramatic winner. Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, left, greets Loyolachicago coach Porter Moser after Saturday’s win over Tennessee. The Ramblers won their 30th game to break the school record for wins set by the 1963 national championship team.