Report: Was Rice to the Raiders the Best Free Agency Move Ever?

The Las Vegas Raiders have a history unmatched by nearly any other team in the National Football League. It is a history filled with Super Bowls, legendary coaches and legendary players.

Their history has also included numerous legendary free agency signings over the years, as the Raiders have welcomed numerous players of high stature.

This was the case in 2001 when the then-Oakland Raiders signed veteran wide receiver Jerry Rice, who was near the end of his career. However, RIce's performance said otherwise.

Sterling Xie of the Pro Football Network recently ranked the best free agent signings ever. He ranked Rice's signing with the Raiders as the 15th-best free agency signing in NFL history, as Rice still put up impressive numbers in just over three seasons with the Raiders.

"Jerry Rice was already the greatest wide receiver ever when he left the San Francisco 49ers after 16 record-breaking seasons," Xie said. "At age 39, it was fair to wonder if Rice needed to keep playing. During his final season with the 49ers in 2000, he averaged only 50.3 receiving yards per game, his fewest in any healthy season of his career.

"However, Rice bounced back with 1,139 receiving yards for the Oakland Raiders in 2001, then earned his 13th and final Pro Bowl appearance in 2002 at age 40. Rice was the top receiver on a veteran-laden Raiders squad that reached the Super Bowl.

Xie noted what Rice's time with the Raiders did for his career and the future of wide receivers. The Hall of Famer had one of the best careers of any player in league history and a career that will be hard for another wide receiver to surpass.

"Rice would play two more seasons with modest production before retiring right before the 2005 season," Xie said. "But his two-year coda was remarkable beyond his role in helping the Raiders achieve Super Bowl contender status. It also shattered expectations for the wide receiver aging curve and helped put Rice’s many all-time NFL receiving records into potentially unbreakable territory."