The Seahawks previously gave the Raiders permission to negotiate with “retired” running back Marshawn Lynch. That process has resulted in a tentative deal between Lynch and his hometown team.
So now the only impediment between Lynch becoming a Raider arises from the process of him un-becoming a Seahawk. It’s been widely reported that a trade will happen, but a trade seems like a gratuity at this point -- especially if Lynch and the Raiders were to opt to play hardball.
Why shouldn’t they? If Lynch were to show up in Seattle, with a $9 million salary that would immediately hit the cap and a full house of tailbacks under contract, the Seahawks would surely wish him well and release him, unless they want to launch their offseason program with an awkward showdown with a player whom they don’t want on the team, and for whom they’d get nothing if he doesn’t unretire.
The relationship between Seahawks G.M. John Schneider and Raiders G.M. Reggie McKenzie, former colleagues who shared an office in Green Bay, likely is preventing things from getting ugly between the two teams. But Lynch can opt for ugly whenever he wants, if he wants to force the issue and, essentially, force his way out of Seattle.
Besides, Mark Davis runs the show in Oakland; he’s got no loyalty or duty to Schneider, and Davis can tell McKenzie in no uncertain terms that they won’t be giving up draft-pick compensation or anything else for a guy who can easily engineer a one-way ticket out of Seattle, if he’s willing to take the minuscule risk that the Seahawks would decide pay to him $9 million to play for the Seahawks, even with Thomas Rawls, C.J. Prosise, and Eddie Lacy on the roster.