Marshawn Lynch reportedly tells Raiders he plans to unretire

It seemed so abrupt when Marshawn Lynch announced his retirement toward the end of Super Bowl 50. Just over a year later, Lynch is now visiting with his hometown team, the Oakland Raiders. He’s also talking about coming out of retirement, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

If you’re surprised that Lynch may ready to lace up his cleats again, don’t be. The only constant with Lynch is that he’s unpredictable. When he announced his retirement, his former Seahawks teammate Richard Sherman took it with a grain of salt.

“I don’t put anything past him,” Sherman said to his former teammate Michael Robinson last May. “He’s about as predictable as a pair of dice. So I don’t try to call his plays.”

Sherman was right, and Lynch is considering coming back. If he does decide to come out of retirement, it seems fitting for Lynch, an Oakland native, to finish his career in the hometown he loves so well.

When he retired, he was still under contract with the Seahawks, and Seattle will need to trade the rights to Lynch to the Raiders to make this happen. The Seahawks gave the Raiders permission to speak to Lynch as all parties explore the options, according to Rapoport.

Lynch was selected by the Buffalo Bills with the 12th overall pick in the 2007 draft. He joined the Seahawks during the 2010 season after the Bills traded him to Seattle, and he etched himself on Seahawks fans’ hearts with his Beast Quake run in the Wild Card round against the New Orleans Saints.

Over his next four seasons in Seattle, Lynch was productive. He exceeded the 1,000-yard mark and contributed over 10 touchdowns each season until 2015. An abdomen injury that required surgical repair sidelined him for nine games, and he finished with 417 yards and just three touchdowns.

During the fourth quarter of Super Bowl 50, Lynch tweeted a photo of his cleats hanging from a power line to signify his retirement. The photo posted at just about the time the Seahawks had decided to pass from the 1-yard line in Super Bowl XLIX, which cost them the game.

Lynch seemed to enjoy retirement while it lasted. Whether he was surviving in the wild with Bear Grylls, giving us a new pronunciation for Pokémon Go, or admonishing 60 Minutes for not getting him a quesadilla, he kept us entertained.

But Lynch has to have some gas left in the tank, and returning to the NFL for his hometown Raiders would be an ideal scenario. Oakland lost Latavius Murray in free agency, and in Lynch, they would be getting a versatile back who has flourished with a quarterback under center and operating out of the shotgun.

Lynch is 30, but Murray only averaged 12.7 carries per game last season. He wouldn’t need to be a focal point of Oakland’s offense, especially with Derek Carr behind center. Lynch is also an adept pass blocker, and would complement Oakland’s offense in that way.

Please come back, Marshawn Lynch. The NFL is not the same without you.