Former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice is appealing his suspension and if it's overturned or reduced, Jason Cole at Bleacher Report reports that numerous NFL teams could be interested in signing him and some may include the Oakland Raiders, Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, Carolina Panthers, Kansas City Chiefs, Tennessee Titans or Jacksonville Jaguars, although Cole did not name names.
Since Rice was released and suspended many have wondered whether he would have a future in the NFL due to his age and what happened with his wife. According to Cole and others in the league, teams have already started doing background work on Rice and they are keeping tabs on the situation leading into the middle of the season. Cole said that some teams may consider making a move later in the year if he is reinstated, as many still see him as an elite running back.
Sadly the NFL has shown that it is not a democracy, because if Rice was a third string running back, he would have been out of the league back in February and no one would consider signing him. But that's not how the NFL works and just look at the Vikings with Adrian Peterson; they deactivated him and then brought him back quickly because their season could be on the ropes despite his child abuse charges.
Teams will be cautious and the ones mentioned above were only mentioned for football reasons, because clearly this one will be tough to get over. The Raiders have two aging and oft-injured backs, while the Dolphins just lost Knowshon Moreno for over a month. The Cowboys have DeMarco Murray but you can't put anything past Jerry Jones, while the other teams are also potential options.
Rice was an elite back in the NFL, but he is not one anymore and that was clear last season when he had the worst statistical year of his career apart from his rookie season. Rice had been over 1000 yards in each of his first four seasons after being a rookie, but in 2013 he ended up with just 660 yards and averaged 3.1 yards per carry. The season before that he had 1143 yards rushing with nine touchdowns to go along with 61 receptions for another 478 yards.
Rice came into this season expecting to play after two games, but then Revel casino closed and the video came out and that changed everything. His best season came in 2013 when he had a career best 1364 rushing yards along with 12 touchdowns and he also had 76 catches for 704 yards to make him a strong RB and one of the best in fantasy.
Rice was first suspended two games after a long period between his incident and Goodell meting out punishment and that only inflamed people more when they saw how small the penalty was. Many speculated Goodell went easy on Rice so he could also go easy on Jim Irsay, but now that whole line of thought is out the window with the release of the TMZ video. The NFL claims that Rice was not totally honest about what happened the night he punched the lights out of his fiancé and the appeal's success likely will hinge on that.
Check here for more from Jason Cole about Ray Rice and his NFL future.
