After two seasons playing for his hometown Oakland Raiders, Marshawn Lynch is not planning to play football again, league sources tell ESPN.
Now, with the three-day draft kicking off Thursday night in Nashville, 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 turned 33 on Monday, and he now is planning to move on to the next phase of his life.
The first time Lynch retired came after nine NFL seasons, during the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl in February 2016, when the Pro-Bowl running back tweeted a photo of cleats dangling over a wire with a “peace out” emoji.
Lynch later applied for reinstatement and was traded to the Raiders in April 2017, just before the NFL draft. He played two seasons in Oakland but suffered a groin injury in October that ended his season, and ultimately his NFL career.