It’s possible that DeAndre Washington will return to the Raiders, but not before he chats with some other teams, according to Vic Tafur of The Athletic hears.
Last week, the Raiders re-upped Jalen Richard on a two-year, $7M deal with $4.6M guaranteed that could pay up to $8M through performance bonuses. That deal doesn’t necessarily push Washington out of the picture, but the Raiders’ feeling is that it might be hard to keep both backs, Tafur hears.
Washington, meanwhile, is still scheduled to reach free agency in March. Serving as the other backup to rookie Josh Jacobs, Washington had 108 carries for 387 yards (3.6 yards per carry) versus Richard’s 39 carries for 145 yards (3.7 ypc, in a smaller sample). Their receiving numbers were somewhat similar, too – Washington had 36 grabs for 292 yards; Richard had 36 catches for 323 yards.
Richard was prioritized over Washington, in part, for his route-running and pass-blocking. Both Richard and Washington stand at 5-foot-8 and Tafur notes that the Raiders could probably use a larger back in the mix.
Washington, who turns 27 later this month, first joined the Raiders as a fifth-round pick in 2016. As a rookie, he impressed with 5.4 yards per tote on a limited sample size of 87 carries. Since then, he’s been a solid backup for the silver-and-black, but he has yet to replicate that production. Over the course of his four-year rookie deal, he’s earned a total of $2.34M in base salary.
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