The Raiders have agreed to terms with Doug Martin, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets, providing the veteran another opportunity after some down years.
This is a one-year deal for the seventh-year back, per Rapoport (on Twitter). Martin is entering what would be his age-29 season.
Connected to Martin last week when it was reported the team was high on the former Bucs back to lead to a Martin-Jon Gruden meeting, the Raiders will hope the formerly coveted free agent-turned-castoff can bounce back. Martin, though, struggled badly over the past two seasons since signing that a lucrative deal in 2016.
The two-time Pro Bowler has averaged 2.9 yards per carry in each of his past two seasons and has gained fewer than 200 receiving yards in each of those. Given that Marshawn Lynch is also not much of a pass-catching threat at this point, this would make for a somewhat curious fit.
Lynch remains on the Raiders’ roster and was due a $1MM roster bonus on Wednesday. The soon-to-be 32-year-old back is set to take up nearly $6MM of the Raiders’ cap, but the team can jettison Lynch mostly free of charge if it chooses.
It would seem Oakland’s roster is not big enough for all four of its current backs. Oakland also has elusive change-of-pace backs DeAndre Washington and Jalen Richard in the fold. Neither were as productive last season as they were in 2016, however.
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Great player. Truly underrated.