The Oakland Raiders needed another running back. The team said goodbye to Rashad Jennings who was their lead running back last season and were forced to re-sign Darren McFadden despite his struggles. The Oakland Raiders did not have much confidence in McFadden towards the end of last season and they still do not. As a result, Maurice Jones-Drew will be joining the rotation and the battle for the starting spot.
According NFL Media Insider Albert Breer, the Raiders and Jones-Drew have agreed to a three-year contract on Friday. Jones-Drew left Jacksonville to test the free agent market and visited several teams including the Miami Dolphins and Pittsburgh Steelers, but left without deals. He was reportedly searching for a contract that would pay him in the range of $3 million per season on a multi-year deal. He likely got that with the Raiders since Oakland swooped in at the last moment to sign the running back.
The addition of Jones-Drew certainly shows the veteran movement taking place in Oakland. First, the team acquired Matt Schaub to be their starting quarterback. Then they signed players like Justin Tuck and Donald Penn to big deals. None of those three players are young and neither is Jones-Drew. Currently pushing 30, the running back is coming off two highly unproductive seasons while dealing with multiple injuries at the same time. His stock was not high, but the Raiders think he can come in and help.
Dennis Allen had been looking for someone to help push McFadden. The younger of the two backs, McFadden has yet to look like the player he was drafted to be. The running back has not played a full season yet in the NFL and took a backseat to Jennings last year. Can Jones-Drew be that player that gets McFadden to finally succeed?
The Raiders will likely have to draft someone else to add to the rotation. Both McFadden and Jones-Drew could easily be injured at the same time which would leave Oakland very empty handed. Drafting a running back in a later round would be ideal for the team. Players like Jeremy Hill, Andre Williams or Isaiah Crowell will all be around by round 3 or later.