Sources: Raiders' Lynch plans to retire again
After two seasons playing for his hometown Oakland Raiders, Marshawn Lynch is not planning to play football again, league sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter.
With the three-day NFL draft kicking off Thursday night in Nashville, Tennessee, the Raiders have one more potential need to address: running back.
Minus Lynch, the Raiders' backfield now will be left with backs such as Isaiah Crowell, Jalen Richard, DeAndre Washington and Chris Warren.
Lynch, who turned 33 on Monday, plans to move on to the next phase of his life.
Lynch's stint with the Raiders had highs and lows, but "Beast Mode" continued to be entertaining and productive. Last season, he was tied for fifth in the AFC with 331 rushing yards through Week 5 when he suffered what eventually became a season-ending groin injury against the Seattle Seahawks, his former team, in London.
He finished the 2018 season with an average of 4.2 yards per carry, scoring three touchdowns in six games.
Lynch rushed for 1,267 yards on 297 carries in 21 games over two seasons with the Raiders, who acquired him in an April 2017 trade with the Seahawks after he retired and didn't play in 2016.
The first time Lynch retired came after nine NFL seasons, during the fourth quarter of Super Bowl 50 in February 2016, when the Pro Bowl running back tweeted a photo of cleats dangling over a wire with a "peace out'' emoji.
Oakland's favorite son, Lynch lit the Al Davis Torch in what was purportedly the team's final game in the city last season, and he was the team's Walter Payton Man of the Year candidate.
The highs in Oakland also featured a dance party on the sideline in the 2017 home opener against the New York Jets. The lows included a one-game suspension for making contact with a referee after he ran on the field to protect Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters, who is his cousin, during a skirmish that same season.
Lynch continued his reputation as a physical runner before getting hurt last season, forcing 23 missed tackles and gaining 311 of his 376 rushing yards after contact, according to Pro Football Focus. He surpassed the 100-yard mark for the 34th time in his career with a 130-yard effort against the Cleveland Browns in Week 4.
Lynch, who was the 12th overall pick in the 2007 draft by the Buffalo Bills, is a five-time Pro Bowl selection and a 2012 first-team All-Pro, when he rushed for 1,590 yards and 11 touchdowns with the Seahawks. With Seattle, Lynch led the NFL in rushing touchdowns in both 2013 and '14, and he ran for at least 1,200 yards in four straight seasons from 2011 through 2014.
In 11 NFL seasons, Lynch ranks fourth among active players with 10,379 rushing yards, and his 93 total touchdowns and 12,593 total yards rank fifth.
ESPN's Paul Gutierrez contributed to this report.
