Wednesday morning the Oakland Raiders announced the addition of a new team member. Marshawn Lynch himself will come out of retirement and being playing for the Raiders.

Lynch’s hometown is Oakland, California and he expressed his excitement through a confirmation tweet on Wednesday that says, “Yes Lawd 12th man I’m thankful but [expletive] just got REAL I had hella fun in Seattle… But I’m really from Oakland doe like really really really from Oakland doe… town bizzness breath on me.”

The trade of Lynch had been in the works for the past month. On April 5th he had returned to Oakland where is expressed his desire to play for them which quickly turned into a recruitment. So why are we just now hearing about it? As always, Lynch had made it clear that there would be no celebrations until the contract was official. Once signed his mother even crashed the Raiders signing celebration.

To compensate for losing Lynch the Seahawks will now acquire the Raiders 2018 late-round pick. Both teams confirmed that it would be easiest to swap picks later in the future to keep from confusion so close to the 2017 year draft. The hawks will get the Raiders fifth round pick in turn for Marshawn Lynch and their sixth round pick.

Lynch’s now official contract is for two-years with a set amount of $8.5 million and a high value of $16.5 million. His last contract with the Seahawks was a two-year extension that would’ve broken down to $31 million over the last three years. Of that, Lynch had only collected the $12 million he was guaranteed for the 2015 NFL season before announcing his retirement.

After the 2015 season four NFL players retired before the age of 30, Lynch being included. Now at 31 it’s an odd encounter that he would want to come back and play again.

Coming out of retirement Lynch had to focus on passing his extensive physical confirming that he would be able to play again because of his injury filled 2015 season. Sources say that he had done so Wednesday morning before finally signing the contract. The only thing now standing in Lynch’s way is the necessary paperwork he must fill out in order to come out of retirement and play for the 2018 season.

Some Superfans of the Seahawks seem to not be so happy about Lynch leaving his faithful fans to go back to Oakland. Others seem unfazed and excited for the 2017 season to see if Lynch still has it in him, and what the outcome will be for the Seahawks.

Brandon Jarvis (‘17) defensive end for the Arlington football team says, “I don’t really think it will give the raiders a huge advantage over anybody. If Lynch can stay healthy and still has some gas left in the tank, then I don’t think it will boost them to anything more than they were last year. Seahawks somewhat addressed their needs this offseason, but there’s no for sure way to tell if the new pieces will truly mesh together well. Both teams will win their divisions this season regardless of this deal.”

This past Sunday Lynch took out a full page ad in the Seattle Times to thank his fans and everybody he had worked with. The page sported only two large pictures and a message saying, “Thank you Paul Allen. Thank you 12s. Beastmode,” which he closed for one last time with his ever so famous signature.
We wish you good luck on your journey back to Oakland and a new start coming out of retirement. Jarvis says, “He was in his prime only a couple years ago. Anything could happen”