Raiders RB Jalen Richard recently suffered a serious foot injury and will miss an indefinite amount of time, as Tashan Reed of The Athletic reports (via Twitter). It’s been a tough summer for Richard, who was parked on the reserve/COVID-19 list for the first few practices of training camp.
We heard at the end of June that Richard, 27, could be on the roster bubble, and his lack of availability in camp won’t necessarily help his standing on the club. The fact that he is the Raiders’ RB3 and carries a $3.5M cap number for 2021 and a minimal dead money charge is also working against him.
On the other hand, Theo Riddick’s recent retirement certainly helped Richard’s chances of sticking around, and the backs behind him on the depth chart include two rookie UDFAs — Trey Ragas and B.J. Emmons — and Bo Scarbrough, who has appeared in just seven games in his NFL career.
It was a bit surprising when the Raiders gave Kenyan Drake a pricey free agent contract given the presence of Josh Jacobs, but assuming he can get healthy, Richard is a luxury Vegas can probably afford. He is a useful change-of-pace back, having averaged 5.1 yards per carry in his career, and he has proven that he can be a real receiving threat as well (179 catches in five pro seasons).
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