Marshawn Lynch Oakland Raiders Rumors: Is Marshawn Lynch Coming Back From Retirement?

Marshawn Lynch-Oakland Raiders rumors have been the talk of all the sports shows. When Lynch visited the Raiders earlier in the week, it spurred thoughts that he is ready to return to the NFL. As is customary with the way that Lynch deals with the media, he has yet to publicly state any plans of unretiring. If Lynch unretires, he will be once again controlled by the Seattle Seahawks, forcing his primary team to make some concessions for him to see the field again.

A report by ESPN on Wednesday (April 5) fanned the flames, suggesting that a deal would eventually happen. It created a situation on social media where many fans of the Seahawks started taking sides on the Marshawn Lynch-Oakland Raiders rumors. Some fans are just excited to see Beast Mode on the field again, no matter what team he ends up playing for during the 2017 NFL season. Other fans are upset that the Seahawks may let him out of his contract in order to play for another team.

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, Lynch has also met with Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll about possibly unretiring. Carroll stated that Lynch had shown interest in resuming his NFL career and that it was a reality that he could decide to play for the Raiders. Is Marshawn Lynch coming back from retirement? Every piece of circumstantial evidence seems to point to an intent to unretire and join the Oakland Raiders in some fashion during the NFL offseason.

So what would happen if Lynch unretires and decides he wants to resume his NFL career? The immediate result would be that Lynch becomes an active member of the Seahawks roster, forcing general manager John Schneider to make some big decisions. Included within his options are playing Lynch, cutting the running back, or working out a trade with the Oakland Raiders. Since Lynch is still under contract with the Seahawks, Schneider currently holds all the cards, even though he isn’t working from a strong negotiating stance.

Marshawn Lynch’s contract would pay him a base salary of $9 million in 2017, as well as $7 million in the 2018 NFL season. If Lynch’s contract remains in place, he also has a roster bonus of $3 million that would kick in during the 2018 preseason. With two years left on his current deal, Lynch would technically be forced to play out those years in Seattle, unless the front office decides to do him a favor. A possible public relations move would be for the team to simply release Lynch from his deal and not force him to pay back any of the signing bonus he was given.

Once he is officially a free agent, the Marshawn Lynch-Oakland Raiders rumors would kick into high gear. Lynch would be free to sign any deal he would like in free agency, presumably giving the Raiders a bit of a discount on the $9 million he would have earned for the 2017 NFL season. The Raiders do have the money to spare within their salary cap space, which is why the team keeps getting linked to running backs Adrian Peterson and Jamaal Charles in free agency. Should the Raiders fail to acquire Lynch, they could revisit signing Peterson or Charles.

An exciting twist in the whole situation would be for Lynch to unretire and re-join the Seattle Seahawks, giving the team another weapon at running back. Beast Mode would certainly receive a warm welcome from Seahawks fans if that were the case. There have even been a number of prior NFL rumors pushing that exact storyline. Most of the current Oakland Raiders rumors point to a different scenario though.

So is Marshawn Lynch coming back from retirement? The final answer may be revealed very soon.

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