Bruising runner celebrates return to where it all started
In a nice going-away present for Raiders fans, Marshawn Lynch has agreed to terms on a contract that will bring the running back out of retirement to play for his hometown team.
The Raiders, who will move to Las Vegas in 2020, acquired Lynch’s rights by agreeing to trade lateround picks with Seattle in 2018, and Lynch passed a physical at the Raiders’ facility Wednesday morning.
Lynch reported to the facility once he returned from a trip to Haiti, where the Cal alum was helping former Seattle teammates Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett build schools and houses.
The contract is for two years and $9 million. Lynch, 31, will make $3 million in base salary in 2017, with a chance to make $2 million more if he runs for 1,000 yards. Overall, incentives could push the deal to $16.5 million.
Lynch was so excited in a video released by the Raiders that after trying out his new helmet, he wore it when he left the facility. Lynch tweeted that he was “thankful but (stuff ) just got real . ... I had hella fun in Seattle But I’m really from Oakland doe... Town bizzness breath on me.”
Local fans might get a chance to breathe on him as Lynch is working on having an autograph signing-block party Thursday in Oakland to celebrate.
Lynch’s mom, Delisa, told 95.7 FM, “I am so excited. Playing for your home team is a dream come true . ... What a way to go out with a bang.”
Lynch replaces Latavius Murray, who signed with the Vikings, and will join Jalen Richard and DeAndre Washington at running back. At 5-foot-11, 215 pounds, Lynch gives Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio a power back to go with the two 5-8 darters.
Lynch, a five-time Pro Bowler, has not played since a Jan. 17, 2016, playoff loss to Carolina in which he gained only 20 yards on six carries. But he still has 66 more broken tackles than the next closest running back in the NFL over the past four seasons.
Lynch will wear No. 24, as his mother said she asked former safety and future Hall of Famer Charles Woodson “a long time ago” if her son could wear his number, and Woodson said yes.
Lynch’s new teammates are very excited about the news, with linebacker and former Seattle teammate Bruce Irvin tweeting, “Woke up feeling like it was Christmas.”
“Marshawn is one of the best running backs I’ve played against in my short career,” Raiders defensive end Khalil Mack said last week. “We played him in the regular season my second year, I believe, and he ran power right at me. I knew then he was one of the most physical guys I’ve played against.”
In nine NFL seasons, Lynch has rushed for 9,112 yards and 74 touchdowns. But in 2015, he was limited to seven regularseason games and 417 yards and the postseason loss to the Panthers, largely because of an abdominal injury that required surgery.
Lynch visited the Raiders on April 5, and the only team he wanted to play for again was his mom’s favorite team. It took a while to get a deal done, with Thursday’s NFL draft looming as an unofficial deadline. Lynch had signed a three-year deal with Seattle in 2015 that was to pay him $9 million in 2017 if he came out of retirement, but that was too pricey for Oakland general manager Reggie McKenzie.
The Raiders will give the Seahawks a fifth-round pick in 2018 in exchange for a sixthround pick. The trade part of the deal was long considered a formality; McKenzie and Seattle GM John Schneider are good friends who came up together in the Packers’ organization. Also, after signing running back Eddie Lacy, the Seahawks had no plans for a Lynch comeback.
Lynch spent the past year doing TV shows and commercials, as well as producing a film and traveling the world.
After attending Oakland Technical High School, Lynch played three seasons at Cal and ran for 1,000 yards in both 2005 and 2006, being named the Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year in 2006.