It’s officially official: Marshawn Lynch is a member of the Raiders. Lynch’s representatives and the team have agreed to terms on a two-year deal.
Early Wednesday morning, the Raiders and Seahawks hammered out the framework of a trade that sending the the Raiders’ 2018 fifth-round pick to the Seahawks in exchange for Lynch and the Seahawks’ 2018 sixth-round pick. The only box to check was a passed physical, and Lynch has satisfied that requirement on Wednesday afternoon.
Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie said the draft was his deadline for a potential Lynch deal. Now, he has his starting running back in place and can satisfy other areas of need in the draft. Without Lynch, a running back would have been in consideration as early as the No. 24 overall pick.
Lynch’s deal with the Raiders will pay him a $3MM base for the 2017 season with a chance to earn $2MM more if he gains 1,000 yards. The base value of the contract is $9MM and the max is $16.5MM, giving him similar upside to Adrian Peterson‘s deal with the Saints.
In Lynch, the Raiders acquire one of the NFL’s best running backs in recent memory, though he does not come without question marks. Lynch is a 30-year-old with over 2,100 carries on his odometer and he wasn’t particularly effective in his most recent action. The last time we saw Lynch, he averaged 3.8 yards per attempt on 111 carries during an injury-shortened, seven-game 2015 campaign. They’re hoping to see Lynch in his 2014 form, a season in which he averaged 4.7 yards per carry and had a career-high 13 touchdowns on the ground.
Photo courtesy of Pro Football Rumors on Instagram. Details provided by Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, Jay Glazer of FOX Sports (on Twitter), and Adam Schefter of ESPN.com hears (Twitter link).
Why is Seattle giving Oakland a draft pick? They are getting a player they want and we are throwing in a draft pick too wtf.
They are swapping the 5th round pick for the 6th round pick. Seattle basically moves up a round and should have 2 5th round picks and the Raiders would have 2 6th round picks.
Seattle had zero leverage in the deal. Everyone knew Lynch was going to Oakland or no where.
I remember early on that it might be a cap hit for the Seahawks. Did the deal eliminate the cap hit?
I hope he plays like crap